<p>Many people have died today of drug addiction or overdosed, lets pray for them also…</p>
<p>Q, I think what you’re missing is the fact that behind her celebrity persona was a human being: not some sort of perfect robot without flaws. Her death will bring pain to her loved ones just as your death would bring pain to those who love you. She was an addict and she has publicly discussed her demons and addiction. She sure as heck wasn’t proud of being an addict. She was more than an entertainer. She was someone’s mother, someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, someone’s aunt, etc. Our sympathy is directed toward those in her personal life who loved her. My sadness is that she wasn’t able to conquer her demons and those demons led to her death.</p>
<p>D1 came home for the weekend and is quite heartbroken at the news. She (& her brother) were born in the same hospital as Whitney’s daughter about 5-6 weeks earlier. I remember at my first post-delivery appointment, my OB/GYN giving me a complete recap of the security in the hospital and the fact they secured a corner room and cordoned off 3 other rooms and the private security, etc. (Seems to pale to what is reported Beyonce did a few weeks ago.)</p>
<p>‘The Bodyguard’ is on demand and we will be staring it in a few mintues.</p>
<p>Thank you for explaining the connection, kity4. I see what you mean now. Anyone with an illness should be given equal sympathy. Allow me to respectfully disagree. Some see those with “self-inflicted wounds” differently than those who have illnesses forced upon them without any conscious choice of the illness. No matter how much willpower a person with stomach cancer has, the next morning when he wakes up, he still has stomach cancer.</p>
<p>Here are some pictures from Thursday night. It doesn’t look like slit wrists, but does look like blood on her leg. </p>
<p>[Whitney</a> Houston shocker! Seen leaving a nightclub with slit wrists and blood everywhere!](<a href=“http://prince.org/msg/8/375864]Whitney”>http://prince.org/msg/8/375864)</p>
<p>Once again, where did i say her loved ones would not feel pain???</p>
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<p>Anyone with an attitude like that should pause for a while and thank heaven that he/she has never had to live with people who “self-inflict”.</p>
<p>At the very least, have a tiny bit of sympathy for those surrounding the “self-inflicters”… they don’t get to choose their situation.</p>
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<p>How do you not know that that person’s smoking contributed to their stomach cancer? Are you only going to feel sympathetic toward people who live a life according to your expectations? As someone who used to work with dying people and their families, if you think they don’t feel guilt, shame, remorse, judgment, etc., then you’re entirely wrong. We’re all human and all have our weaknesses; some of them are addictions.</p>
<p>younghoss, I have to respectfully disagree with you also, and a few other posters. I don’t believe having a drug addiction or any other kind of addiction is self-inflicted. </p>
<p>I don’t know anyone’s life stories on this forum, but having personally felt/currently feeling the effects of a loved one addicted to drugs, I don’t believe that anyone removed from a situation like that has the right or experience to say that. </p>
<p>I’m a HS senior, by the way.</p>
<p>[World</a> Blog - Want to be drug-free? Thai monks prescribe projectile vomiting](<a href=“http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10365220-want-to-be-drug-free-thai-monks-prescribe-projectile-vomiting]World”>http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10365220-want-to-be-drug-free-thai-monks-prescribe-projectile-vomiting)</p>
<p>I thought of this article I read when I heard about Houston’s death tonight. I read it yesterday; it speaks to the number of rehab attempts some people (including celebrities) have made with no success. Addiction specialists will tell you that no one program works for everyone. It’s not a one-size glove fits all. While this program seems quite extreme, it has worked well for some people. Obviously not everyone is aware of it, nor has the resources to travel Thailand to try it.</p>
<p>Well, I dare ask what you would think of Amy Winehouse? Hmmm… alcohol and drug addict. Reached out to several people in the days leading up to her death. Tony Bennett was one of them. He was devastated when she died because he hadn’t returned her phone calls to him immediately; he understood her addiction due to his own history with it. I think those who have conquered addictions are in the best position to understand and support those looking to beat them.</p>
<p>So, she DID reach out, but people missed the cues (of course, one could argue it was the little boy calling wolf since she’d attempted rehab before). Does she deserve sympathy?</p>
<p>Know nothng about Winehouse ir her situation, so can’t comment…</p>
<p>I understand CPU says a drug, alcohol, food, sex, addictions are all forced upon an individual. Cpu and I will disagree there. I am well aware of genetic pre-disposition of addictions, and that those who choose such behaviors are far more likely to become addicted than an average person. Yet, some get addicted some don’t- with or without such predispositions. </p>
<p>treetopleaf should not suppose he/she knows my life and my life experiences to assume who I have/haven’t lived with(post 47). And be very careful treetopleaf and teriwtt, when ttleaf encourages me to “At the very least, have a tiny bit of sympathy”, and teriwtt hints at who I “only feel” sympathy for(post 48). I was very careful to say some feel different sympathy, and not say- “that I personally have no sympathy”. I did not say more or less, I said some feel differently. I didn’t even say how I felt; I would not want you or others to misunderstand what I said.</p>
<p>It’s sad when anyone dies. What’s even more sad is when one accelerates his/her own death. The only thing that surprised me when I saw that Whitney Houston had died was that it wasn’t sooner. Does anyone remember the show “Being Bobby Brown”? DH and I happened upon it once a few years ago when flipping channels and we watched for a while. After hearing some of the things she (and he) said, and seeing some of the things they did on camera, I had a whole new opinion of Whitney … and it wasn’t good. I’d like to think her death will serve as a lesson to others, but it probably won’t.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that drug addictions are “forced” on anyone. Nor do I think cancer or diabetes (just using these two because they were mentioned earlier) are forced upon anyone either. </p>
<p>They happen for a number of reasons. I could probably develop lung cancer later on in life. Is that due to a genetic predisposition, or the fact that I’ve lived the majority of my life in a house full of smokers? </p>
<p>What I can’t grasp is the regarding of individuals who are addicts as somewhat less deserving or less of the “good people” that we’d all like to believe we are. Death is death.</p>
<p>I am feeling sadder than I thought I’d be over the news. The Greatest Love of All was playing in the OR when my daughter was born in 1986. I’ve never forgotten what that song means to me.</p>
<p>Now wait a minute, CPU. If you said addictions aren’t self-inflicted, and now you say they aren’t forced, then how do they occur? If a person chooses to never drink booze, how can he become an alcoholic, for example?</p>
<p>*If a person chooses to never drink booze, how can he become an alcoholic, for example?*In that case they wouldn’t.</p>
<p>But the same person may be prescribed pain relievers , or anything that affects the part of the brain that triggers addiction.</p>
<p>They wouldn’t know for sure if their combination of genetics & environment set off diabetes, cancer or addiction, until they had it.</p>
<p>We have genetic screening tests for very few diseases.</p>
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<a href=“http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0040002[/url]”>Genes and (Common) Pathways Underlying Drug Addiction;
<p>Addiction is a disease - it is not about simply wanting the drugs. It is typically about an inability to cope (and celebrities have vast amounts of pressure on them - you could not even imagine unless you yourself have been there). Expensive therapists can’t always change neurological difficulties, and taking medication just defeats the purpose - you really don’t want to put an addict on medication to control their drug addiction. So wealth has little to do with her ability to overcome addiction. </p>
<p>Sadly, Whitney’s death will serve no lesson to anyone, just as all of the drug-related celebrity and high profile deaths before her haven’t. You can’t just scare a person out of an addiction, unfortunately. Prevention is the best effort rather than waiting until it becomes a problem - but some people are just more susceptible in the way that some people can’t help binge eating, or binge drinking. Just because you were born and raised with a strong sense of decision making and control does not mean everyone else is. Genetics, upbringing, and your social support network play huge roles. I do believe people can change and overcome incredible obstacles, but not everyone is able to. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about her family, but another poster said that her daughter was in rehab. This event will probably make her recovery far more difficult, rather than scare her away from drugs. Seeing someone self-destruct is difficult, even if you help as them as much you know how. I feel terrible for her loved ones.</p>
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<p>Huh?? What does ‘are all forced upon an individual’ mean?</p>