To have little sympathy with celebrities with their addictions?

Respectfully OP you seem to be extremely personally bothered by this. Has something happened to spark this post and are you okay?

So you’re basing your opinions of several people who you know?

Who said it wouldn’t affect those around them? You can still have sympathy.

You have experience with addiction but at the same time no sympathy for addicts that happen to be famous?

'Aside from my husband, I can guarantee that absolutely no one in my life knew I was drinking 200+ units of alcohol a week. I was going to work in a very prestigious job. My kids are well put together'

With respect and meant kindly if you were drinking 200+ units a week your kids will have been affected massively you were perhaps too drunk to notice. Other people will have known, of course they will have.

Good on getting it under control now though. Keep it up.

You’re totally discounting addiction to prescription drugs, where they have (previously) been prescribed and then…

speaking from experience, here.

OP I am afraid you seem to have a fairly naive view of addiction.

If someone has a tendency towards addiction or bankruptcy (heredity, family background; there are loads of possible combinations of circumstances) and fame/money/bad people around them are added to that, it's quite likely that they will become addicted to something/go bankrupt/both.
Someone who has a different combination of circumstances may not.

@ConstanzeMozart

I think being famous must be hellishly pressured and weird, and breed egocentrism and insecurity in about equal measure. If you've got money and are surrounded by people enabling you/not telling you no, I can well imagine addiction taking hold.

And yet the majority don't get drawn into the spiral of addiction, bankruptcy, etc., so there must be something more than just being rich and/or famous.

It's the same with the ones always whingeing about lack of privacy etc., yet are regularly flaunting themselves and family in mainstream media, social media, etc., whereas with other "celebrities" the general public don't even know who their partner is nor whether they have children, as they keep their private life private as far as possible and don't go courting the media and publicity etc.

I’m a bot because I disagree with the OP

But when celebrities do it everyone seems to feel so sorry for them.

Do they? Not something I'd noticed. Quite the opposite, actually.

Do celebrities really get sympathy or are is it bots or people being contrary because it’s the Internet. For example most people would agree that Katie Price should have been convicted of drink
driving and that her kids have had to endure terribly chaotic lives. There will be someone on places like here who will post asking if they are the only ones feeling sorry for her.

Drew Barrymore has been frank about having alcohol and drug addictions before even turning into a teen. I feel very sorry for her and respect her recovery.

Fame is a toxin. It damages people in ways they don't expect.

I actually have a lot of sympathy for people with addictions. The main reason being, that at some point they haven't had the support to prevent falling into it.
In the wake of Diddy and Epstein scandals coming to light, I think it is clearer the sheer abuse in the world that leads people down these paths. There are those in control that have a "habit", that have power and influence and abuse it. They peer pressure others into it, and those others don't have the same control, even if they started thinking they did.
The same goes for people at any part of the socio-economic spectrum. I feel more for the less wealthy, and those without a community to support them, they don't have access to rehabs and support that could help them get clean. They're also in systems and environments that just don't help them get out and stay out.

Katie Price had a huge amount of leeway with keeping her children despite drink and drug issues. Sarah from the council estate would have lost her children every single time (I know of someone who lost 7 children, they gave her a chance she relapsed they removed the children she sobered up new relationship new baby new car crash behaviour for YEARS) child actors drinking on set laughing like its hilarious still gets a job Sarah from the council estate cant get a paperound (when they were a thing) "cos she's a pisshead"

I possibly have less sympathy for celebrities because real life doesn't happen to them for a long long time they get there teeth fixed detoxed poured into work then fall off the rails find Jesus starts again

Sarah from the council estate goes to church no-one notices few people care

‘Addictions’ or ‘mental heath issues’ can be just another form of attention-whoring by celebrities, particularly those whose fame is fading.

‘My drug & booze hell’ is an effective way of getting sympathetic media coverage or maybe a book deal. The redemption narrative ‘My rehab journey’ then becomes another cash cow to be milked. It’s all about raising the profile, and then monetising it.

The likes of Katie Price have been doing this for decades.

I agree with you OP. I remember a few months ago there was a thread about things that are trashy if an ordinary person does it but OK or accepted if someone rich or famous does it. Taking drugs and drinking features quite high.

The same can be said about mental illness. Celebrities are viewed as brave for discussing their MH. An ordinary person would be labelled as a benefit scrounger, mallingering or creepy.

I don't believe that addiction discriminates about who's got more money or who's more famous.
I think being famous must be hellishly pressured and weird, and breed egocentrism and insecurity in about equal measure. If you've got money and are surrounded by people enabling you/not telling you no, I can well imagine addiction taking hold.

I also think Sarah from a council estate clearly has the dice loaded against her from the start, not that she’s 'a scumbag'.
And Dave from the nice area got unlucky with a combination of genes/family history/a certain level of wealth and privilege, so I don't think 'he’s a right loser'.

All of these cases/scenarios are possible to understand if you just apply a little bit of imagination.

We live in a society which encourages people to seek celebrity and fame, in the face of overwhelming evidence that many of those people self destruct, seeking more, because what they've got, however rich n famous they are, is evidently not enough.

I feel sick at how many talented, beautiful young people, full of potential, self destruct through drink, alcohol and sex/destructive relationships in the public eye. Yes their kids and families deserve our sympathy. And so do those who fall victim to addictions without the fame. But I do feel we all perhaps unwittingly help to create the conditions which lead them to think they are so special they head off on that downward spiral - even though it looks as if they are flying high. From Marilyn Munroe to Brittany, Kurt Kobain to George Michael - all so much in the public eye. Sometimes it's easier to count the stars who don't have to grapple with addiction.

I have a very different sort of sympathy with those addicted escaping abuse and pain or just youth - our society doesn't do a great job of protecting or helping them, and they certainly can't afford the expensive detox clinics in the same way, so need and deserve so much more support, but at the risk of crushing their creativity and fame. Id love to be able to step in and tell Amy Winehouse, and Elvis and Whitney that they could have a life after music which was not dominated by drugs, and that was as rich and meaningful as public adoration . . .

My cousin is a recovering alcoholic, there’s no real support in our area to detox (she tried to just stop and had a seizure ) she was told to reduced her drinking by one unit a day. So the only way an alcoholic could get off alcohol was to continue to drink alcohol but have a bit less. Luckily she had some savings and paid 25k to go to rehab when they did a medical detox. Most people don’t have the money to do that.

I don't think any celebrity who got wasted on heroin and had their DCs taken into care would have much sympathy from the public. Same if they gambled their savings and house away and made their family homeless - I can't see many people feeling sympathy for them.

I think your point is a little mixed tbh - you seem to have a problem with celebrities. And I have a problem with the definition of celebrity!

Many people who are not celebs earn huge amounts of money - they're not famous, just rich. Many celebs aren't hugely rich. And not just because they've wasted their cash on drugs.

Matt Willis from Busted is a recovering drugs and alcohol addict - he has spoken a lot about it. I think there is a certain amount of empathy for him as he has cleaned up, been honest about what he's done and is involved in lots of charity work for recovering addicts. Yes he messed up, but he has turned his life around and is now using his experience to help and support others. I think that's admirable.

Would Sarah from the council estate or Dave from the nice area be of a similar mind to use their experiences to help others? Who knows?

We're all human and celebs are ordinary people with extraordinary jobs and/or public profiles. I do know some very high profile people who have the same worries - health, kids etc as the rest of us. They are not immune to tragedy and they don't deserve it just because they are famous.