<p>frazzled, 131, thanks for the smile that comment brought to me.</p>
<p>My own frustration - someone in this day and age can publically struggle with addiction, or bad choices, whichever, and we as a society can not help them. Fixing bad mental health should be our next ‘moon shot’.</p>
<p>“Fixing bad mental health should be our next 'moon shot”."</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more, Treetopleaf.</p>
<p>I’d also like to point out that a woman who chooses and stays for years with an abusive husband probably grew up with some sort of abuse. The drugs may have begun as self-medication.</p>
<p>EPTR’s post #137=required reading.</p>
<p>She was arrested for marijuana posession in Hawaii in 2000 (later dismissed, I believe)and she and her abusive ex-husband had plenty of court appearances. But that is besides the point. The lack of compassion is staggering. We do not know all her issues. If you can not feel an ounce of sympathy for her or her family regardless of the cause of her death, that is truly sad. </p>
<p>Agree with treetop re: the need to fix the medical/mental health sytem. But that is a discussion for another time and place.</p>
<p>Ok,to all those deeply saddened by her passing, would you feel the same for Charlie Sheen? Or is he a vile person?.. Same situations…</p>
<p>As one who was kept up last night because of the tumult and circus at the Hilton: wouldn’t it be a gift from God, for her child and family, if she died from a heretofore unknown condition? The circus and the speculation would stop and the family could have some chance at peace.</p>
<p>I would be saddened by anyone’s passing, regardless of the cause or their history. Well, If you’d like, I’ll make an exception for you qdogpa :)</p>
<p>There are as many reasons that people become addicted as there are addicts. It is often a form of self medicating, as NYmom points out. Often it can start out as experimentation in a young person who doesn’t have the maturity of thought to understand that it could end up a life sentence.</p>
<p>The fact that it is illegal is really beside the point and simplifies the issue to an almost childlike viewpoint! Lots of things are illegal but people are still driven to them. Addicts are driven by a combination of physical and psychological craving that nobody can truly imagine unless they have experienced it. They will often do anything for that fix, including stealing from their own family members and compromising the safety of their children. It’s not necessary to excuse the behavior in order to feel sympathy and sadness for the addict.</p>
<p>I will agree that it is a shame if the people around her were enablers and didn’t confront her. I’m guessing it’s true that her celebrity status contributed to the fact that she was not, it appears, held accountable for the effects that her lifestyle had on the people around her.</p>
<p>the point is qdogpa… most of us are saying today is not the day! a person should be given some dignity… yes i would say the same about charlie sheen on the day of his death…you dont have to bring up their issues or faults on that day…save it for later</p>
<p>if you died qdogpa would you want your family reading/hearing about your faults on that day? or would you hope that your family could be consoled by a sense of respect?</p>
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<p>I absolutely cannot stand Charlie Sheen; I never watched Two and a Half Men, but I never like the guy anyway. Other celebs I can’t stand… Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise.</p>
<p>I would feel incredibly sorry for any of them if they died of due to drug and/or alcohol addiction. Mostly because I think Sheen’s example is more avert that he not only has addiction issues, but likely has a major mental health issue (as I think Gibson does, too).</p>
<p>Parent56…point taken…</p>
<p>Who ARE you, Ellebud??? You have me so curious!!! :)</p>
<p>Tom cruise? Lol…what has he done…</p>
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<p>Actually last night when I was watching CNN (they interviewed many people who knew Houston), someone mentioned that loved ones had posed interventions a number of times with her. They knew, and they tried. I think they mentioned Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick in particular, but don’t quote me on that.</p>
<p>Tom Cruise is so smug about his Scientology stuff. </p>
<p>His biggest faux pas was telling everyone that mental illness does not have to be treated with pharmaceuticals; he was referring to Brooke Shields in particular, who had recently come out and admitted her own struggles with depression and how pharmaceuticals saved her life. He basically believes the whole pharmaceutical industry is a scam. I found offense with this, as H works for a major pharma, and while I certainly have my issues with big pharma, I know a lot of people who only go in and do their work everyday, with the hope of making someone’s life a bit easier.</p>
<p>I would feel the same about anyone passing, including Charlie Sheen. Honestly I’m not going to lose sleep over any of them because I don’t know them personally but I do feel sympathy and anger when anyone dies from drug abuse. My anger is at the dealers and criminals that supply the weapons. I hate illegal drugs. Hate them.</p>
<p>The same actors are on my list of “cant stand them”, Teri. Tom Cruise’s offensive statements about psychiatry are arrogant and ignorant. Mel Gibson’s anti-semetic slurs and abusive behavior are distasteful, to say the least. Charlie Sheen has SA and MH issues. But as parent56 said, have some common decency at the time of their death.</p>
<p>** cross posted with teri**</p>
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Thank you, parent56! I do think that Charlie Sheen has done vile things; also that he has a mental illness. I would NOT find it necessary, nor think it at all appropriate (nor even decent), to make insulting comments upon his passing, ESPECIALLY to people who would consider his death a loss.</p>
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<p>Lol. Teriwtt! We have the same list of celebrities that drive us crazy! I wonder which female ones make your list!</p>
<p>Mine are Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts. Can’t really explain why.</p>
<p>Oh oh. I hope Ellebud is neither of those.</p>
<p>Were y’all on cc when Ted Kennedy died? That was the worst display of a lack of compassion as I’ve ever seen.</p>