The Causes & Effects of Celebrity Addiction
Being a celebrity in Hollywood has many advantages that ordinary people will never experience. The chosen few seem to have it all: money, fame and happiness. Or, at least, it appears that way. Living in the spotlight, for the world to idolize and scrutinize, does have its drawbacks and complications. Drug abuse among the world of celebrities is a real problem and often leads to severe legal issues and sometimes unnecessary deaths.
Why do celebrities use?
Addicts use drugs because they offer a temporary relief from real life. It allows a person to escape into a different world where everything seems perfect. When that feeling ends, a person retreats back into his regular life where problems and stress exist. Therefore, if real life is too much for a person to handle, he seeks solace in that artificial world.
The cycle continues until the person becomes an addict. For some celebrities, being famous and under the public’s microscope on a constant basis might be too much to handle. Seeking relief with drugs is a way some stars cope. Consequently, Hollywood ends up with celebrities who are known as chronic relapsers; those that can’t break the dangerous cycle. There are options for chronic relapsers, including treatment, which seems to be the only way for
most people to fully kick a habit.
According to a statement by Dr. Drew Pinsky published on Huffington Post, “It appears that people who are pre-wired or genetically predisposed for addiction may indeed be more susceptible to drug dependence because of their passionate drive to be in the ‘excitable environment’ of the stage or screen.” Therefore, those who get a thrill from being famous often get the same thrill from using drugs.
Celebrity drug addicts
Some of the most famous and talented actors and musicians are often those who struggle with drugs the most. Drug addiction does not discriminate. Here are some stars who have lived a constant battle with drug addiction:
- Lindsey Lohan
Lohan became a celebrity relatively early in life, which may be a factor in her drug dependency. The child star took a drastic turn for the worse in her teens, a turn that has landed Lohan in jail and rehab several times in her life. No stranger to controversy and public images splattered online, Lohan has been seen in tragically unflattering images as well as several mugshots.
- Justin Bieber
The Canadian-born superstar became a teen heart throb with his song aptly titled Baby. Bieber was just a baby himself when he skyrocketed into superstar status. Unfortunately, he soon found himself surrounded by Hollywood superstars and their glamorous and rock-star lifestyle at a very impressionable age. It seemed that the boyish singer transformed into a heavy drug user just as quickly as he changed hairstyles. His late-teens and early-20s have landed Beiber in serious trouble, including the possibility of deportation back to Canada. His career as a popular musician has seemingly not been too affected unlike his approval ratings as a role model.
- Charlie Sheen
Sheen has battled drug addiction for a considerable portion of his life. The former star of Two and a Half Men” reportedly spent an average of $2,000 a day on drugs at one point in his career. Sheen has been in and out of rehab several times, swearing to be finally clean, but ultimately receding back to his troublesome ways. During a live interview with Piers Morgan on CNN, Sheen showed Morgan his negative drug test results. As the show went to commercial, Morgan states that Sheen wrote him a note with the message, “Let’s get hammered.”
It is difficult to comprehend how some of the world’s most talented individuals who are paid to create artistic and creative projects for the rest of the world to enjoy can potentially throw away their careers and lives on drugs. Even if drug addicted celebrities are no longer entertaining us the way they once did, the average man can see these stars as cautionary tales and avoid repeating their mistakes.
Article by Leyla Davis
This article was written by the guest author listed at the end of the article.