To have little sympathy with celebrities with their addictions?

[Talldaisy13]

This isn’t about anyone in particular. Just that there are so many celebrities with drug and alcohol problems and they end up ruining not only their own lives but the lives of others.

I know that money and status doesn’t mean you are exempt from mental health problems. But there’s so much navel gazing and some seem to have no self awareness.

I’ve had close family members with addictions and although I understand that it’s supposed to be an illness, I’ve found that they blame everyone else for their problems and destroy everyone around them.

I probably feel the same about anyone but with celebrities it seems even worse when they have the means to get help and have lives others can only dream of.

The reason I mention celebrities specifically is because yes, many of them are extremely wealthy.

They have the means to choose the lifestyle they want, they don’t face the same problems that everyday folk face and yet they often do terrible things and still get an outpouring of sympathy.

And yes I struggle to feel sorry for any addict. It’s a choice.

It might not be a choice once you’re well and truly hooked but it’s a choice to take drugs and drink to excess in the first place.

In my experience it’s usually a certain type of person that becomes an addict .

So you think celebrities don’t experience trauma, sexual abuse, mental health issues, family breakdowns, death of loved ones ones etc? You think their money shelters them from that?

And, do really think anyone wakes up one morning and decides “Today I’ll work on losing my career, my children, my family, my home, and everyone who matters to me”?

That they’d willingly choose a path that tears their life apart piece by piece? No one chooses that.

And for every bit of pain their family feels watching it happen, and yes that is immense, the person living through addiction is carrying even more, buried under it, often in ways no one else can see

Celebrity doesn't make life easier. It's pretty well documented that it tends to make things very difficult for many who experience it, even if they thought they wanted it. Being in the public eye, especially if it starts when someone is very young - being in desperately insecure and unpredictable industries that can involve public adulation and public hatred - being constantly judged by strangers - these might not be excuses for poor behaviour, but they are particular pressures, about which one can choose to be somewhat compassionate.

I didn’t say that, did I?

Many, many people suffer in their lives and go through us h terrible things. There is never an excuse to abuse substances.

I think very often there is a certain type of person that chooses to go down that road. Selfish, reckless, irresponsible, self destructive.

Also, don’t have children if you can’t put them first.

How exceptionally ignorant! You clearly know NOTHING about the complexities of addiction.

People can say addicts don’t choose that path.

But we all as humans have choices. We know that drugs, alcohol, gambling can be very addictive and harmful. You have a choice.

I know a woman whose mother died very young of an alcohol related illness, the woman man has ended up an addict herself. She has 3 children, she knows the pain and damage it can cause.

OP, you have a very black and white way of thinking. I don’t think you want to even try and understand.

Can I ask why you posted this in ‘Am I Being Unreasonable’?

People who are judging addicts need to look at their own lives their phone use, caffeine, sugar food, shopping, gaming, work, sex. Not every addiction is alcohol and drugs and most people are addicted to something whether they realise it or not.

Not everyone is addicted to something. Plenty of people are able to self regulate.

Also, having a few too many coffees is no where near comparable to substance abuse.

My sex life, lattes and phone use are normal daily activities.

Being a manipulative, destructive liar which is what all addicts are is far from normal or acceptable.

A lot of celebrities turn to addiction because of the pressures of fame.

Amy Winehouse is an example. She just wanted to make music. She was not fussed with the fame that came with her talent.

Maybe I do have a black and white way of thinking about it. But sometimes things are black and white.

I know that this is a loaded thing to say, but if someone killed one of your child because they were drug/drink driving. Would you have any sympathy for them?

Because that is the reality if you choose to go down that path. It’s only by luck that it doesn’t happen.

You really are clueless. The judgemental always are

Don't change the narrative of your original post to garner agreement. The addicts you first mentioned, are now taking to the road and killing children in their car, and that is not what the discussion was about.

I think you have an extreme lack of understanding and empathy for struggles you have never had to endure. Rather than argue, perhaps listen.

Heartened to see most people thin Yabu. There but for the grace of God go I.

just because you aren’t able to understand it, doesn’t mean you can’t have some compassion. Addiction isn't reasonable

I’m most definitely not clueless. I had to grow up around addicts so I know more than most.

You just completely missed the point

The ignorance around addiction is strong here.
Bet the OP also thinks celebrities have ‘nothing to be depressed about’ too.

Your point seemed to be making a false equivalence between normal activities and addiction? One causes widespread destruction the other does not. So not the same in the slightest.

There’s no changing the narrative.

There are a long list of celebrity addicts who have been caught drinking driving.

They are only the ones who have been caught.

Everyome has sympathy for addicts until one destroys your life.

I think the danger with celebrities is that drugs and alcohol are so rife and normalised in that world. A lot of ‘celebrities’ will have imposter syndrome. It must be an awful life from a psychological perspective, never knowing how long the fame and adulation that you crave (not to mention depend on financially) will last. If they’re already feeling like a fish out of water in a crazy, vacuous world I can understand why they’d be tempted to accept drugs in an effort to fit in.

What I will say is that people are saying I’m clueless/have no understanding.

My dad was an alcoholic. It ruined our family and he did unspeakable things when under the influence. He also drunk and drove including with us in the car as children.

Because of the lifestyle we had that meant there were a lot of other addicts around, including hard drugs.

Drugs were readily available anywhere you went. A lot of my childhood friends got hooked on heroin.

The pain and trauma that addiction causes to loved ones is unimaginable.

The OP claims to have 'more understanding than most ' (of addiction issues).
I would seriously question that.

Very nasty considering what I’ve just posted.

Personal experience doesn’t mean you know more than most.

You don’t know more than the people who work with addicts, such as medics, support workers and counsellors, or researchers who study addiction. You are blinded by your own anger at the people who have been around you.