Opinions
A thin line between celebrity life and drug addiction
A thin line between celebrity life and drug addiction
The vast majority of people out there want to be celebrities. To those who dream of stardom it may appear as if celebrities have it all.
While there are certainly some benefits to being famous there are also many drawbacks too. These celebrities are only human, but they will often be dealing with an excessive amount of pressure.
They don’t usually manage to get where they are without hard work. There is also the possibility that the attributes that helped the individual achieve their fame may also make them more prone to addictive behavior.
Over the years we have realized that there is a thin line between celebrity and drug addiction. It may not be the case with other ‘decent professions’. For most people in the decent professions there are severe occupational consequences for using drugs and alcohol in the workplace where individuals are held to a high standard of compliance and accountability. So, people become afraid of losing their jobs, their livelihood and the shame that would accompany that.
A little humility and the fear of hitting bottom and “losing everything” can act as a good motivator to take more responsibility for the choices people make and a good instigator to get help and address the problem.
For the celebrities on the other hand things are different. Since there is little or no professional forfeiture or penalty for using drugs, there may be less motivation to get treatment because there is less to lose. Kicking the habit of using drugs is so difficult to achieve that without the intense desire and resolve to get well and the focused attention needed to build a sobriety-centered lifestyle, the chances for success are slim.
Celebrities are under constant surveillance so we know more about their lifestyles, but in reality their rate of addiction may be no higher than the general population. We ought to know that being a celebrity is extremely stressful. Research shows that the loss of personal privacy they experience creates an extreme sense of isolation. This often leads to loneliness. Celebrities are living the fast life: They go to a lot of social events and their careers are moving a timeline of a dizzying pace. It can be over whelming. Possibly they are having endless fun but stress and unhappiness levels make their lives ripe for mood altering opportunities. Drugs might be the nearest option.
But why is cocaine so prevalent in show business? Those who have gone public about their cocaine usage include supermodels and film, rock and TV stars such as George Clooney, Lady Gaga, Elton John, David Bowie, Naomi Campbell and Oprah Winfrey, all of whom have spoken about their use of the drug. Their testimonies shed light on the attraction of cocaine. Campbell has written about how “cocaine made me feel invincible, like I could conquer the world. I was just completely overconfident, while using it.
The more you take, the more you want”. The novelist Stephen King has said that “with cocaine, one snort and it just owned me body and soul. Once cocaine was there it was like the missing link or like when you turn on lights. Cocaine was my ‘on’ switch”.
That is the dangerous attraction of the drug to celebrities. Needing to be publicly “on” and “up”, radiating confidence and charm and coping with a pressurized work environment in which a lot of money can be at stake, they turn to the drug.
We cannot refute the fact that famous people often have more disposable income to spend on recreational drugs. This might also be a cause.
At the same time those individuals who achieved celebrity at a young age may have missed out on important elements of human emotional development. They may be turning to alcohol or drugs because they feel unable to cope with things.
Addiction is a life-threatening disease, as evidenced by this list of famous people who died of drug overdose. The likes of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Judy Garland, Jean Seberg and many others did not survive. Our own celebrities must be careful.
Comments
