“Celebrities have two bodies, one public, one private. The public body appears on red carpets in expensive designer dresses, pouting seductively for the camera, and the private one is invariably exposed pumping gas in sweatpants and T-shirt, a grumpy malcontent” (Harris 1). Celebrities may have two metaphorical bodies, but they do not have nine lives.  It is not a coincidence that the life expectancy for the general population is several years longer than that of celebrities.  Famous figures are put on a stage before our society with the expectation of maintaining a perfect image.  Unfortunately, this ultimately leads to the downfall of many of these individuals.  Mental health disorders and drug addictions are two coinciding factors that have always been prevalent among prominent celebrities.  Despite these two components inspiring creativity and often driving individuals to success, they have also proven to be destructive to many stars’ careers and lives.  In an increasingly technological world, celebrity drug and mental health scandals have become objects of our society’s consumption, leading to a collective ignorance of the concerning epidemic occurring before the world’s eyes.

Mental Health Disorders

Mental health disorders are extremely common in creative professions; specifically for famous entertainers.  They pose a plethora of advantages and disadvantages to these individuals; as they can stimulate original ideas and harbor an atmosphere of intense focus.  By the same token, they can take an extreme emotional and physical toll on the person, sometimes leading to drug addictions and death.  One of the disorders that demonstrates these characteristics is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD, is characterized by constant fidgeting, difficulty focusing, impulsive behavior, and bursts of energy.  Additionally, Bipolar Disorder is distinguished by features such as racing thoughts, overconfidence, restlessness, and frequent mood swings.  Finally, depression is followed by a lack of motivation to complete everyday activities and long periods of sadness.  All of the disorders described above have been treated as disadvantages for as long as can be remembered, due to the fact that they create chemical imbalances in the brain.  However, they can also provide high levels of creativity that allow these artists to prosper (“Mental Health Conditions” 1-3).

These mental health conditions are extremely prevalent in artists around the world.  In fact, a 2019 study done on independent musicians found that 73% have struggled with anxiety, depression, or other psychological disorders.  This is no coincidence.  The survey, which included information from 1,500 artists, asked whether or not they had experienced mental health disorders and whether or not they had occurred as a result of their music career.  80% of the musicians between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced negative mental impacts from their music career.  The CEO of Record Union, a Swedish music label, claimed that this study was a call to action for change to be made in the music industry.  Instead of putting the spotlight and constant pressure on these artists to produce and perform perfectly every time they step out the front door, “it’s time to put the state of our artists’ mental health on the agenda” (Frehsee 4).  It is no coincidence how common these mental health disorders are found in entertainers and something must be done to halt the continuation of this pattern (Frehsee 2).

Many wonder which came first–the chicken or the egg?  Do mental health disorders cause higher levels of creativity leading to artistic career choices or does the entertainment industry cause mental health disorders due to its toxic environment?  This question has been answered by a multitude of studies; the entertainment industry is more often cited as causing a higher incidence of mental health disorders in these creative individuals.  Factors such as unpredictable work schedules, self-criticism, and stress from public opinion have played a role in causing some mental health disorders.  Famous people are held to a higher standard in our society, but are in reality, the same as the rest of us.  They still have feelings and breaking points, and they even make mistakes.  But, why is it that they are expected to be perfect?  With millions of eyes following their every move from what trip they are going on, to their outfit choices, one slip up can feel catastrophic for these figures.  With so much pressure to maintain a perfect image, people lose sight of their true selves and fall into a poor mental state (“Musicians Are Three Times More Likely to Experience Anxiety or Depression” 1).

Ludwig Van Beethoven is an artist who thrived during a time before the emergence of the media and he is admired for his brilliant composing, especially notable due to the fact that he was deaf and worked through the many episodes of his bipolar disorder.  One of the symptoms of bipolar disorder that he experienced was paranoia.  Beethoven forced his family and friends to taste his food before eating it due to his constant state of suspicion of being poisoned.  During the winter months, he went into a serious depression where he lacked motivation to create music.  One of the key factors of his bipolar disorder diagnosis was his self-isolation.  Beethoven was said to lock himself into the “silent world of his imagination” because his best ideas developed when he was away from the world (4).  This enabled him to get his work done quickly and efficiently (Maxwell).

Another famous artist with bipolar disorder, namely, Kanye West, has done just the same.  In 2017, Kanye abandoned his social media pages and escaped to Wyoming in order to find his “creative groove” (Greer 2).  This immediately followed his highly-publicized stay in the mental hospital for a year.  He felt as if he was being watched by the media under a magnifying glass and wanted to “get himself back” (Greer 1).  As can be seen, people with bipolar disorder sometimes get caught up in the stress of their everyday lives and need somewhere to escape in order to evoke their creativity.  In Kanye’s case, bipolar disorder helped him to exhibit favorable traits, ultimately helping him to produce over ten studio albums and obtain high levels of praise from people around the world.

Bipolar disorder has also been noted to provide people with a work style of brief, but intense periods of productivity.  Vincent Van Gogh is a renowned artist, often recognized for his paintings “Starry Night” and “The Potato Eaters,” along with many other masterpieces.  He was most productive when working in short bursts of substantial energy, which could be seen as an inhibitor to his career because he could not work continuously.  However, it also paradoxically enhanced his career because when he was able to work, it was for an extensive period of time.  In the final 70 days of his life, he produced 75 paintings.  This is an incredible feat that very few people could accomplish.  Van Gogh often described his frustration with the periods of madness that halted his painting progress, but simultaneously wondered if these periods of mania were linked to his creativity and exceptional ability in the arts (“The Real Van Gogh: A Genius Not Driven by Madness but Crippled by It” 3).

Along with artists, it is common for comedians to endure periods of mania and depression.  These comedians use humor as a coping mechanism for their mental health struggles.  Robin Williams, a beloved comedian, passed away in 2014 due to his depression and alcoholism.  Similarly to others in the comedy scene, he used humor as a front for his sadness.  In an interview, Williams described fellow comedians as “deeply depressive people” who harnessed their clever use of comedy to “keep it at bay with this facade” (Youngs 4).  A study was conducted on a sample of 1,100 Australian pairs of twins to note different humor styles.  Out of all of the twins, 145 of them were diagnosed with depression.  The overall finding was that the twins who were diagnosed with depression were more likely to use humor as a coping mechanism for their mental health disorder (Greengross 2).  The idiom “humor is the best medicine” may have some truth to it after all.

The same healing effect of jokes that was ascribed to comedians can be applied to the stroke of a paintbrush for artists.  Pablo Picasso was a trailblazer in the art field, breaking out of traditional barriers applied to the industry at the time.  His career has been partitioned into different periods based on the techniques he used to paint during particular years.  Between 1901 and 1904, he was in his “Blue Period” where he used somber colors to illustrate the emotions he felt internally.  Scientists are currently conducting research at Harvard University to prove art’s “capacity for healing powers” (Patel 6).  During periods of sadness, artists use their medium to help alleviate some of the difficult emotions they are dealing with.  Numerous studies have shown that people find that their mood lifts when they are being creative.  Dopamine is a hormone in the brain, which plays a role in how we feel pleasure when released.  Depression can be tied to a lack of dopamine, but art is known to cause an increase in the release of this hormone; explaining why art therapy acts like an antidepressant (“How Art Can Help People Understand and Cope With Depression” 1).

Overall, mental health stigmas over the past few decades have led to a negative view of these disorders, always painting them as a disadvantage.  While they can cause disruptions to work and mood, these disorders can also pose numerous advantages, especially for those in a creative field.  Just as different forms of art can be therapeutic to people with mental health disorders, they also often give people a prerequisite towards original thinking.  Drug addiction also plays a large role in creative production; altering the chemical balances of the brain and constructing imaginative interpretations of the world.

Drug Addiction

Similarly to mental health disorders, some factors that lead celebrities toward drugs include stress from the public eye, hectic schedules, and a lost sense of identity.  Despite some drugs enhancing artistic work due to amplified imagination, drug addiction has caused a large percentage of early deaths for celebrities.  How come celebrities keep doing drugs then?  Many speak about the increased creativity that accompanies specifically hallucinogenic drugs.  Availability of drugs also increases as wealth does, since these people can access several doctors and drug dealers that can provide them with substances (Lathan 6).

They appear in the headlines of our magazines for their accomplishments, their scandals, and ultimately, their demise.  Two figures that took the entertainment industry by storm in the 20th century were Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, and Marilyn Monroe, one of Hollywood’s most famous sex symbols.  Elvis thrived in the mid-1950s to early 1960s, but his career began to decline as he experienced anger, depression, a slew of behavioral problems, and excessive weight gain that suspended his ability to perform and continue churning out hit songs.  On the day Elvis died in 1977, he was given codeine at his dentist appointment for a crown he had received on his tooth.  He called his doctor to report increased pain symptoms and was prescribed six hydromorphone tablets.  Coincidentally, the prescription drugs for his tour came in the mail.  During his autopsy, Elvis was found with 14 drugs in his system, including the drugs that had arrived in the mail and the Codeine that he had been prescribed, in which the dosage was noted at 10 times the therapeutic level (Lathan).  Marilyn Monroe, known for playing the “Blonde Bombshell” role in numerous films and remembered as one of the most beautiful people of her time, was also a highly-depressed individual.  Some of the letters which she wrote in the psychiatric clinic she was admitted to in New York were recovered and showed the extent of her suffering, including her banging on the wall of a secluded cell she was placed in for hours on end.  Both of these artists suffered from depression, motivating them to experiment with drugs as a form of alleviation (Kashner).

The most peculiar commonality between these deaths of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe lies in their aftermaths.  In the case of Elvis’ death, “the stomach contents at the autopsy were destroyed, no real police investigation was conducted, and no drugs were found at [his home] Graceland” (Lathan 6).  In other words, a mission ensued to cover up the circumstances of his death and preserve his legacy as one of the most remarkable artists of all time.  Another notable figure, Marilyn Monroe, was also closely monitored by the Los Angeles Police Department near the time of her death.  It was later discovered that the FBI had been keeping tabs on her as well.  But, how come people worked tirelessly to cover up the circumstances of these deaths and not others?  The legacy of Whitney Houston, a Grammy winning and Billboard-topping singer from the late 20th century, was tarnished by the media following her death.  Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe died in similar fashion to Houston, but were allowed to hold vastly different legacies after their deaths, as opposed to Houston who “was just an addict” (5).  There were thousands of comments on Whitney Houston’s obituary in the New York Times, many containing the message that her death was “a lesson about drugs and alcohol” and that Houston’s death “elucidated her true self” (Tiger 3-5).  In reality, one’s entire existence and career cannot be reduced to simply their death.  The difference in interpretation and reporting of these celebrity deaths suggests the idea that a substantial racial bias exists in the media, which will be further developed later in this paper.

Another prevalent issue among celebrities is their increased access to drugs due to their wealth.  Michael Jackson’s drug cabinet consisted of numerous highly-regulated drugs such as dangerous sedatives and pain relievers in sizable doses.  Physicians have expressed their confusion and frustration concerning the access that Michael Jackson was granted to these unsafe drugs after it became clear that he was an addict  (“Michael Jackson’s Drug Dealers”).  Michael Jackson is among countless other celebrities who were provided greater access to drugs due to financial resources and easy access.

In rapper Mac Miller’s case, his depression was showcased through media coverage and even lyrics in his own songs.  In his 2013 song, “Diablo,” he sang “Contemplatin’ suicide like it’s a DVD.  Lost inside my mind, it’s a prison, homie, leave me be” (Ahlgrim).  It is baffling how his drug dealer could then knowingly give him pills laced with Fentanyl, one of the most potent and harmful drugs (“Drug Dealer Accepts Plea in Mac Miller Death”).  These lyrics convey a clear struggle that Mac Miller was enduring to listeners around the world.  Therefore, it is even more upsetting that in the presence of these pleas for help that his peers and colleagues did not aid him in getting clean.  The same is true for Michael Jackson’s case; if people in his inner circle recognized the excessive prescriptions that he was obtaining from several different sources, they should have intervened.  The lesson gleaned from this is that people surrounding celebrities should be careful with their treatment, especially if they are already in a fragile state.

A grim mental state can often lead individuals to seek a form of “escape,” which can, at times, be through drugs.  Carrie Fisher, more popularly-known as Princess Leia, struggled growing up as the daughter of famous parents, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and being portrayed as a sex symbol during her Star Wars role at the young age of 19.  This led to a series of issues in her adult life, including Bipolar Disorder and alcoholism.  She describes her life as a celebrity as “circling the drain” and started drinking heavily to get her to “anywhere but here” (Fisher 118).  Carrie shares a similar mentality to many others in the entertainment industry, who start taking drugs as a way to take their minds off the stress of their lives.

Justin Bieber, a famous singer, also sought an escape from his struggles through drugs.  He opened up about it in his vulnerable docu-series “Seasons,” opened up about his history of drug struggles including “taking Molly, drinking Lean, and taking other drugs” as an “escape” for him (Bieber).  The entertainment industry must make a change in its structure as drug addictions have become incredibly prevalent.  This change could even begin with the celebrities’ inner circle.

Celebrities are surrounded by teams of people who organize their daily lives, schedule events for them, and are meant to support them through their peaks and valleys.  However, many of the teams that work for these prominent figures are aware of their addictions and do not intervene to help them.  These teams have become more focused on not “ruffling the feathers,” making it so that these celebrities are constantly “surrounded by people that laugh when they laugh and do what they do” (Kazan).  There was a lot of controversy surrounding Demi Lovato’s team because they knew of Demi Lovato’s relapse on drugs and did not intercede.  Demi Lovato (they/them), who is a famous singer, detailed in their documentary, “Dancing With the Devil,” the intense pressure that they felt from being the “poster child of sobriety and mental health disorders” (Kazan 2).  Their team didn’t help them to relieve these feelings, but rather urged them to maintain a clean image to the public.  This anxiety they felt ultimately was part of the reason that they relapsed and overdosed (Braun).

Why do these celebrities feel the need to take these drugs if they are aware of the consequences that accompany them?  The answer is that, for some people, drugs are an essential part of their creative process.  Specifically, the drug LSD and other psychedelics which have been connected to increased imagination.  In 1955, a doctor named Louis Berlin conducted a study to explore the impact of LSD on the painting abilities of four famous artists.  A panel of art critics was hired to critique and rate the work.  The general consensus was that the paintings which were done when the artist used psychedelics had a “greater aesthetic value” than the artist’s usual work (“Can Psychedelic Drugs Enhance Creativity?”).  Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, admits to taking LSD in college and even holds that his experience with it was one of the “two or three most important things” that he ever did in his life.  He even named the company while he was on one of his LSD-induced trips (Heisler).  Despite the fact that psychedelics could tweak the way in which the brain functions, they can also be beneficial to the creative production of many successful entrepreneurs and entertainers.

While LSD and other psychedelics can increase creativity, there are other common drugs in Hollywood that can pose serious issues to the celebrities’ health.  Some artists who fall into addiction are able to recover with help.  Macklemore, a Grammy-winning rapper, often integrates lyrics about the impact of different drugs on his life into his music.  Throughout his high school years, he would drink alone and take Oxycontin several days a week.  With the help of 12-step programs and anonymous meetings, he was able to achieve sobriety (Landmark 3).  Despite what the media may portray as a lost cause, many of these artists have the ability to end their addiction.

Sobriety was also achieved by Robert Downey Jr., an actor most remembered for his performance in Iron Man, who endured several struggles with drugs, some of which led him to prison.  In a similar fashion to Macklemore, Downey attributes his sobriety to 12-step programs, meditation, and therapy.  He also gives credit to his sobriety for the “phenomenal career momentum he has enjoyed over the past few years” (Sclar 4).  Sobriety helps many artists to thrive in the industry because they are able to proceed with their lives with mental clarity.  Despite the belief that many celebrities hold that ”staying on this edge is keeping them creative,” some of the drugs that they take are potentially life-threatening and have no noted positive influence on visionaries (“Fatal addiction”).

It is apparent that drug addiction has always dominated the entertainment industry due to the stressful circumstances that these individuals endure, more often leading them to take drugs as an “escape.”  There are numerous instances of famous figures having increased access to drugs due to their heightened wealth.  No matter one’s status, they should not have the ability to obtain potent and potentially life-threatening substances.  There must be a transformation made in the infrastructure of the entertainment industry before too many others die from a drug overdose.

Child Stars

Child stars; the faces that we grew up with on the television screen, the faces that taught us, made us laugh, and entertained us day and night.  We only really get to know the characters that these children play and the appearances that they make on the screens in our homes, rather than what is truly going on behind the scenes in their lives.  Many of these child stars are faced with pressure from their managers, fans, and teams that lead them down bad paths when they are older.

Britney Spears was almost instantly born into show business.  She took on her first role in a Broadway Show, “Ruthless,” at the age of 8, then took another role in the ensemble of the “All New Mickey Mouse Club TV Show,” that also happened to include Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.  Just four years after this show, Spears earned a deal with Jive Records and started her career as a pop star.  Her debut album, ...Baby One More Time sold more than 13 million copies and her follow-up album Oops!... sold 9 million copies.  One cannot even begin to imagine what it was like for Britney Spears to navigate this level of stress and confusion at that young of an age, all while also enduring the time period of grappling with one’s sense of self that occurs during the teenage years.  

This early childhood stress was reflected in her adult life, through the struggle that she faced over her father’s conservatorship, a troubled marriage, and issues with substance abuse and mental health disorders.  The media also played a large role in the amplification of Britney’s problems.  Lifestyle and gossip magazines such as People and Cosmopolitan would send reporters to record her “erratic behavior,” portraying her in a negative light and making her look “crazy” (“Britney Spears” 1).  Something upsetting about this whole situation is that very few had an insight into the abuse that Spears was enduring, as she became very good at putting it at bay with a facade.  She often went from “crying and attempting to run from the performance backstage” to “rocking the show” when she got in front of the audience (Stark 2).  Britney Spears, among other child stars, experienced a spillover effect of the pressures placed on her as a child, ultimately proving to be damaging to her life as an adult.

The same sort of effects can be noted in the life of Demi Lovato (pronouns: they/them).  After getting their start as a child actor on “Barney & Friends,” they moved on to other Disney roles such as in the movie “Camp Rock.”  Now, Demi Lovato is known as a world-famous musician and has openly spoken about their struggles with substance abuse and mental health disorders that go “back as far as childhood” (Jackson 1).  Lovato has since spoken about their time on the show “Barney & Friends”, where they had a tinted view on the whole experience, since they were “grateful to be on TV”, but simultaneously were “really struggling” internally (Jackson 2).  Growing up in a household full of alcohol, drug abuse, and eating disorders, these were the only things that Demi had ever known.  With this constant negative influence, drug abuse was bound to seep into their adult life, as they tried to “self-medicate” for their trauma (Ratner 3).  Demi also speaks of similar pressures to Britney Spears that they faced as a “female in the industry” at the time, who are expected to “dress a certain way and look a certain way” (Ratner 1).  Demi’s team expected them to maintain a clean image with no alcohol and drugs because they did not want the public to see them in that light.  The largest concern was that people who had grown up watching Demi would mirror their “sinful” actions.  After their overdose on heroin, Demi went through a great deal of self-reflection and transformation as a whole.  They are no longer afraid to speak of their struggles with drugs and alcohol, as they have become aware of how their experiences may aid others in overcoming their own problems.  However, this serves as an example to other parents and coworkers of child stars as to how improper and unsupportive treatment can present substantial issues down the road.

There are a plethora of personal issues that go on behind the screen, as seen in the life of Lindsay Lohan.  She got an early start to her career, starring in Get a Clue, Freaky Friday, and Mean Girls.  Similar to many other child stars, a fair amount of her problems sprouted from her childhood endeavors.  Having “grown up on set,” Lohan missed out on the “invaluable benefits of happy-go-lucky childhood” (1).  She compensated for this by “drowning herself in foolish decisions” in an act of “delaying her adolescence until later in life” (Lindower 2).  In a similar fashion to Lovato, Lohan endured a lot of turbulence in her household growing up, including her father being arrested, a divorce, her parent’s addictions, and witnessing her father abuse her mother.  Under these circumstances, Lindsay Lohan became accustomed to negative behavior, to the extent that these actions were mirrored in her adult life.  Lovato also grew up with these influences, which was reflected in their adult life.  The media also had a large impact on Lindsay Lohan’s outrageous actions.  She had to run from paparazzi and “shield her face from a greedy public obsessed with her downfall” (2).  Millions of people watched Lohan’s every step beginning in her childhood and many say “it’s no wonder that kids who grow up on film and television sets become overwhelmed by it all” (5).  The parents and colleagues of child stars have a large influence over their lives, and therefore, need to mediate their own behavior to set a good example for the developing child (Lindower 5).

The overwhelming effects of spending childhood on movie sets are also present for child actor Amanda Bynes, who was forced into a number of various roles in her time on screen, including the movies She’s The Man, Hairspray, Easy A, and Amanda’s Show.  In the film, She’s The Man, Amanda was dressed in drag for her role, which caused an identity crisis.  When she saw herself on the screen in such a different form than she was accustomed to, she “went into a deep depression for 4-6 months” from the “super strange and out-of-body experience” (Johnson 2).  During this funk, she became vulnerable to external forces, especially concerning her appearance.  Around the time that she filmed Hairspray, she read a magazine article that advertised Adderall as “the new skinny pill” (Johnson 3).  She feigned an ADD diagnosis to get a prescription for this drug from her doctor.  As a result of a combination of not eating and smoking marujuana, Amanda became unable to perform her expected duties and could not memorize her lines.  This led to her spiraling out of her career as an actor and down a bad path to substance abuse, DUI’s, arrests, and a conservatorship when she was deemed unable to manage her own affairs (Johnson 2-5).  The stress from her childhood roles became a lingering issue in her life, making it a “dark, sad world” (Gutowitz 2).  Her “swift descent from perfect child star to tabloid fodder” is attributed to issues stemming from her childhood roles (Gutowitz 2).  The treatment and image of child stars needs to be shifted drastically in order to distill a meaningful change in the impact of their early experiences on the rest of their lives.

Some of these child stars’ experiences may include drugs.  A culture of frequent drug and alcohol use exists in Hollywood and some of it even occurs on set.  Therefore, young stars are constantly surrounded by these substances and begin to become curious.  This is true for Drew Barrymore, an actor, who attempted to appear mature to her older cast mates by downing two glasses of champagne at age 8.  Thereafter, she began drinking casually and chasing the “bubbly” feeling of having all her problems “disappear for the hour” that she was out of it (Jepsen 2).  She craved an “antidote” for the pain that she felt in substances (Jepsen 3).  Along with missing out on the normal childhood experience, Barrymore also witnessed domestic abuse.  Sadly, her earliest childhood memory was when she was three years old and her father threw her mother to the ground in their kitchen.  Human beings yearn for a sense of belonging to maintain sanity.  Feeling as if she did not have a place in her own home, Drew would often run away for days on end and indulge in drugs and parties.  These independent experiences at such a young age caused her to gravitate towards marijuana at the age of 12 and cocaine at the age of 13.  This adolescent time period in a person’s life is crucial for the physical and psychological growth of any young girl.  By satiating her needs with drugs, Drew’s development was stunted.  This is why she continued to make poor decisions that motivated her mother to sign her into rehabilitation facilities at the ages of 12 and 13.  As a young girl in the spotlight, Drew navigated the world without much direction and found herself on a dark path (Jepsen 2-4).

Through the anecdotes of these child stars, it is clear that there is a persistent issue with the pressures and stressors placed on these young celebrities.  There must be intervention before more of the faces that we grow up with on Disney and Nickelodeon are seen spiraling into unhealthy habits, such as substance abuse and jail.  Intervention can stem from parents, managers, and even fans who are willing to advocate.  Whatever change is made, it must be instilled now!

The 27 Club

The “27 Club” is much more than a coincidence of age; it’s an unsettling pattern.  This title was coined to put a name to some of the early deaths of people in the entertainment industry which occurred at age 27.  It fuels the question of what precautions should be put in place to halt this sequence from continuing, whether it is more support from celebrities’ inner circles, reduced access to drugs, or limited media harassment, meaning a lessened paparazzi presence.  Less badgering from the media and support from inner circles would significantly decrease the stress that celebrities feel in their everyday lives and hopefully steer them away from potentially life-threatening actions.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, a talented artist from the 1980s, lacked this support from his inner circle, which made it especially difficult to navigate the eclectic New York art scene during the 1980s.  Basquiat was one of the defining artists of this period, gaining fame almost instantly after his first exhibition and becoming friends with Keith Haring and Andy Warhol.  Throughout his career, Basquiat experimented and eventually became addicted to drugs, specifically heroin.  His friends knew faintly of his addiction, but the only friend who was said to have a large impact on Basquiat’s decisions regarding drugs was Warhol.  Once Warhol died, Basquiat was left “without an anchor” (Wines 7).  This knowledge of Basquiat’s drug problem is reminiscent of other stories described in the previous section, such as that of Demi Lovato, whose team was aware of their drug problem and did not intervene.  Basquiat was found in his street studio dead after overdosing on heroin at the extremely young age of 27.  His father expressed a great deal of anger towards Basquiat’s friends, since they were aware of the issue and did not inform him or do something themselves to intervene.  Many sources claim that there was not much that could be done to save Basquiat, even to the extent that “‘one knew from the start that he was going to live out his own time span,’” as stated by Henry Geldzahler, a former curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Wines 3).  Like many other artists who experienced early deaths, Basquiat “pined for fame but was crushed by its burdens” (Wines 2).  From the outside, the entertainment industry appears to be so enthralling and energizing, yet time and time again, it is the reason for the demise of many celebrities at much too young of an age.

Another artist who died far too soon was Amy Winehouse, at the age of 27.  After years of cranking out hits, such as “Back to Black” and “You Know I’m No Good,” her career started to dwindle with her increasingly problematic alcoholism.  Towards the end of her life, her mother described how she felt as if she was watching Amy Winehouse slowly kill herself.  Her mother was not the only who thought that Winehouse’s death was impending; a magazine called The Mirror published an article forecasting her death in 2008 and obituary writers had already started to draft hers in 2010, an entire year before her death.  This provides an explanation for how obituaries were published so rapidly following her death.  One obituary writer described the feeling of Amy’s death that allowed her to “wheel out those pre-written columns as we photograph her body being wheeled out of the house...at last” (Hearusum 7).  It is disturbing that the media thinks that celebrities with a drug addiction are unable to overcome it due to the lack of support available for these figures in their inner circles and industries.  Amy Winehouse’s death could have been prevented if there was more intervention from the people around her, rather than neglecting to address the evident problem that she had with alcohol.

Kurt Cobain’s inner circle also turned a blind eye to his problems, eventually leading to his death.  A heart throb of his time and lead singer of Nirvana, Cobain was a successful artist.  After experiencing severe stomach pain for 3 years and failed attempts to alleviate this pain, he was finally prescribed heroin, but in a surprisingly large dose for 3 weeks.  However, this very dose of heroin was found in his system after his death, as he was never able to “permanently wean himself” off the drug (Staff 5).  Following Cobain’s death at the age of 27, his journals were published for the public eye and his voiced concerns were revealed throughout these pages.  People constantly told him that while “he had a great thing going...he should get his personal s*** together” (Staff 7).  He also describes the frequency of the phenomenon of watching “a rock figure who has a public domain mentally self-destruct” but that he “will have to decline” (Staff 8).  Unfortunately, he took his own life in 1994.  His final weeks were spent in a rehab clinic, demonstrating that he fought demons until his very last day.  It is upsetting that there was not enough action taken to save him.  He wrote in his suicide letter that “it is better to burn out than fade away” (Staff 2).  He felt as if he was not receiving the support and attention that he needed for his problems.  It is upsetting that despite his awareness of the frightening pattern among rock stars, he ended up falling down the same path, due to lack of treatment of his problems.

A similar sentiment of lacking attention was true for Janis Joplin who died at age 27, who some insiders thought was “on the cusp of a personal and professional rebirth” (1).  She was “the first lady of rock’n’roll” and “was breaking boundaries...doing it in a man’s world” (3).  Along with her trailblazing role as a woman in the rock industry, she had a very difficult past.  Her diaries detailed “self-doubt…caused by body dysmorphia” (4) lingering from her teenage years and lasting throughout her entire life.  She was “driven to an early grave at 27 by demons that had found their home in adolescence” (4).  It is upsetting that Joplin never received proper treatment for these struggles, allowing them to persist for years down the line.  Similarly to these other members of the 27 Club, Joplin often took drugs as an escape from her problems.  She was found to have heroin in her system at the time of her autopsy.  Likewise to other stars of her caliber, her death was basically expected by the media.  “Being a star is really losing its meaning,” expressed Joplin, communicating her anger towards the music industry and the ideology of fame as a whole (Helmore).

Jimi Hendrix conveyed a similar sentiment on fame.  Hendrix is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, headlining the Woodstock Festival in 1969.  Not only is he one of the most successful musicians of all time, but he also served time in the Army.  Upon his discharge from the army, there were some of the first signs of his excessive partying mentality.  With the $400 that he obtained from his honorable discharge from the army, he drank until he only had $16 “left to his name” in a nightclub (2). In the biography, Becoming Jimi Hendrix, the author describes alcohol later becoming “the scourge of his existence,” often “driving him to fits of pique, even rare bursts of atypical, physical violence” (Wyatt 2).  Similarly to other stars, Hendrix experimented with LSD, even when he was performing at festivals.  He dabbled in drug and alcohol cocktails, causing him to behave in a violent manner towards others.  Once, his girlfriend even needed stitches from his brutal behavior.  Unfortunately, Hendrix died after taking 8 times the recommended dose of Vesparax sleeping pills.  Despite his battle with drugs and the struggles that accompanied it, Hendrix holds a legacy of amazing music.  It makes you wonder how the entertainment industry would be different today if all of these stars had been able to overcome these addictions (Wyatt).

Through these anecdotes of different members of the 27 Club, it is evident that there is a sickening pattern that has continued within the entertainment industry.  These early deaths trace back to the same issues as the origins of drug addictions and mental health disorders within stars; negative portrayal in the media, lack of support from inner circles, and not enough intervention.  It is incredibly upsetting that some of the most impactful visionaries have left this world too soon.  The commonality between all of these people is that they lacked the attention to their problems that they desperately needed.  We may never know the impact that their lost contributions would have made on society.

The Media

“Celebrity death is constructed and circulated as an object of consumption, knowledge, and desire” in today’s media (3).  However, this is not a new problem.  For many years, a culture of paparazzi swarms has existed in Hollywood.  Media companies send their reporters out to capture celebrities living their daily lives, but often end up attempting to find these individuals at their worst.  The media is eager to feed the appetites of their consumers by creating exposing content of the figures that society idolizes the most.  They achieve this content through their “open-season” attitude towards celebrities, attempting to reveal all parts of their personal lives and expose them.  This attitude has often painted addicts as “barbaric” (2).  For a society that already desperately needs a better understanding of addiction, the media sets an “appallingly bad example” for the general population of the way addiction should be viewed (2).  The media often frames mental health disorders and substance abuse struggles often in a negative light.  This can worsen their conditions because with a spotlight pointed towards them, they will crave more of an escape from society.  When celebrities receive this unwanted, negative attention from the press, they need somewhere they can find refuge, which is often in drugs (Hearusum).

The media’s treatment of substance abuse through a racial and gender-related lens can be seen in the comparison between Whitney Houston and Lance Armstrong.  Both of these celebrities had drug problems, but “Armstrong is allowed multiple identities—cancer survivor, humanitarian, gifted cyclist—but Houston is just an addict” (4).  Much of the negative sentiment surrounding celebrity drug scandals is initiated on people’s comments on articles on social media, furthering the amplification of dismissive and indifferent responses from society.  In the New York Times’ obituary for Whitney Houston, there were 487 comments that mentioned something about her death being a “lesson about drugs and alcohol” and that the drug addict side of Whitney Houston was her “real self” (5).  On the other hand, in the article written in the New York Times about Lance Armstrong’s drug scandal, there were 972 comments that blamed society for rewarding cheaters and justifying his cause by saying that many other racers did just the same, so taking performance-enhancing drugs was just his way of evening out the playing field.  It is very odd that the focus of the conversation about drug use shifted when it was regarding a white male, in comparison to an African-American female.  It is suggested that the media assigns different understandings to drug users depending on their race and gender.  In addition, there was a “crack-baby epidemic” around the time of Whitney Houston’s death, and she was swept into the momentum of this movement, despite having nothing to do with it.  If the media makes it their goal to write objectively about drug and mental health scandals in celebrities, then there will be less negative light shed on these celebrities’ problems.  Part of objectivity is abiding by the NUJ Code of Conduct, a guide that advises journalists on how to carry out their writing in an ethical fashion.  This Code of Conduct must be more heavily-ingrained into the minds of journalists as they learn their craft and explore the complexity of mental health and addiction (Tiger).

The Gatekeeping Theory describes the “powerful process through which events are covered by mass media, explaining how and why certain information either passes through the gates or is closed off from media attention” (15).  In the late part of the 20th century, the media’s focus shifted from educating and informing the public to “basing news content decisions to which news stories would generate the largest profit” (16).  This is due to the finding that humans are more likely to remember “vivid information” rather than “pallid information” (14).  This ties into the gatekeeping theory because more evocative information is likely to appear in the media than authentic information.  In recent years, the media has provided us with almost everything that we use in our daily lives, from news to communication.  Therefore, the media has an immense hand in the public’s definition of “drugs.”  While illegal drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy are often pointed to as the problem in society, the problems with alcohol and tobacco are often neglected.  In this way, the media frames “public attitudes about the ‘drug problem’” through the discrepancies in its portrayal of different types of drugs (19).  As the source of all of our information, the media needs to remain objective and deliver all information, rather than just information that is beneficial for them to share (Wood).

The Gatekeeping Theory goes hand-in-hand with the Framing Theory.  Although the media is expected to be objective, many media sources produce exaggerated information, sometimes with details missing, in order to promote ideas that best cater to their audience.  A study analyzed 3,826 paragraphs written about celebrities who overdosed in Entertainment Weekly, People, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.  The study analyzed three celebrities that overdosed on illegal drugs and three that overdosed on prescription drugs, in order to elucidate a larger idea about media sources tinting drug scandals based on their circumstances.  The study found that celebrities whose deaths were linked to prescription drugs comprised the majority of the paragraphs studied, at around 80%.  The content of these paragraphs was generally focused in positive frames for prescription drug overdoses versus negative frames in articles about illegal drug overdoses.  This disparity suggests that media sources decide to fixate on illegal drugs as the villain in our society, while ignoring other possible contributing substances that may be more inconspicuous because of their legal status.  This is just another example of the injustice that the media partakes in.  The problem with this is that it impacts millions of people who read not just these four publications, but hundreds of others every day and are absorbing partisan information (Wood).

Rather than simply discussing the problems that exist in the media, it is essential to pose valid solutions.  Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure that these news sources are not compromising the integrity of the information that they put out.  However, there should be more journalistic training done on objectivity and unbiased writing.  The letters that journalists tap on a keyboard are shared to millions of eyes every day and have the potential to harm society’s interpretation of different events.  There is currently a Code of Ethics for journalists that governs the way that they write articles.  Editors and publishers must work on examining the journalist’s objectives in each article, in order to prevent the spread of negative and harmful connotations towards struggling celebrities.  While the issuing of this information can worsen the mental health conditions and drug addictions of celebrities, it also furthers the detrimental beliefs that society holds about addiction and mental health disorders.  Something as simple as more surveillance over these articles could shape the perspectives of millions on pressing issues.

The Werther Effect

Journalists, occupying a key profession in the media, also have a large impact on the circulation of information surrounding celebrity mental health and drug scandals.  For as long as can be remembered, celebrity deaths, especially suicides, have been circulated as a sensation in the media.  They are highly-publicized events that often take over magazine covers, yield remembrance ceremonies and testimonials, while also having a chokehold on the public.  The Werther Effect describes the phenomenon of copycat suicide, where people mimic the suicide of a celebrity in the wake of their death.  Although first described in 1974, this theory has had a silent presence in the world since the craze over celebrities began in the first half of the twentieth century.  What can be done to prevent these copycat suicides?

This study may elucidate possible solutions to this heightening issue.  South Korea has the fourth highest suicide rate, proving its prevalence as an issue in the country.  In order to gain insight into this issue, Jae-Hyun Kim, a leading psychologist there, conducted a study looking into celebrity deaths and their impacts on the public.  The study focused on President Roh, a politician, and Ms. Choi, a popular movie actress, who both died of suicides.  Eighteen months of data was analyzed from before the selected celebrity suicides and eighteen months of data from after the suicides were studied in order to note a prominent disparity.  The overall finding derived from this study was that the Werther Effect was stronger for Ms. Choi than for President Roh.  This is attributed to the general connection and compassion that the population gains for entertainers, in comparison to politicians.  Another contributing factor may be that 905 news articles were published on Ms. Choi’s death during the three weeks after her suicde, compared to 360 articles about President Roh.  The content within these articles also had a resounding impact.  In Ms. Choi’s articles, she was placed in a more “cherishing frame”, demonstrating that her death was placed in terms more open to sympathy from others (4).  Immediately following both of these suicides, the suicide rate rose significantly.  The female suicide rate experienced a drastic spike of 118.3% during the three weeks after Ms. Choi’s death.  In the three weeks following, there was a 60.71% increase in suicides.  The Werther Effect “band” was noted to be 6 weeks for Ms. Choi and 4 weeks for President Roh, due to the “emotional connection” that “may be greater for an entertainer than a politician” (7).  

Another lesson from the study is that the greater the media coverage, the greater the suicide risk for the public, a type of vulnerability occuring at a disproportionate rate for younger people.  It may seem like changing these enormous media conglomerates is an implausible goal, but there is potential for differences to be made.  The author in the article calls into question the idea of having “authoritative regulation to restrict indiscreet mass media reporting on suicides in Korea” (8).  Although governmental interference is viewed as a last resort, it may be crucial in deterring more suicides from occuring in the future.  The government could regulate harmful information that has the potential to negatively influence the public (Kim).

Although the government may have leeway to intervene in South Korea’s media, there is not much that can be done to regulate social media without being viewed by the public as overly-censoring it.  In the United States, people have the freedom to express themselves and their beliefs on social media without restriction.  Unfortunately, sometimes this freedom of expression can have repercussions on others.  There was another study done which analyzed the content of tweets in the wake of 18 celebrity suicides in Japan.  In the study from Japan, there were heightened emotional responses from younger people.  Young people tend to be drawn to celebrities and idolize them more.  Another commonality in the findings of these studies is that entertainers were associated with higher emotional responses from the public.  The chart of emotions utilized in this study to examine these tweets was surprise, sadness, condolences, anger, and no emotion.  The final component of this study was analyzing whether these tweets were linked to a rise in suicide.  The first week following the suicides in Japan proved to be dominated by no emotion or informational tweets about the death, while the following week there were more emotional reactions.  The surprised, sad, and angry tweets had a strong positive correlation with suicide numbers rising among the Japanese population.  Similarly to the discussion in the previous paragraph, government intervention is an option.  The Japanese government is attempting to stop the impact of social media on suicide through blocking key words on social media.  This could filter out detrimental language and sentiment on fragile topics.  Twitter and other social media platforms have the potential to be censored for the safety and health of the public, which can be done by targeting and removing harmful key words (Fahey).

One of the deaths that has been circulated as a sensation is Robin Williams.  The “grim details” of his suicide were released by investigators, which has potentially detrimental effects on the population (3).  Robin Williams was a very beloved figure, which made these gory details all the more painful for the population to hear.  The World Health Organization (WHO) also has their own guidelines for detailing suicide methods of celebrities, including that the cause of death should remain confidential with very little detail released to the public.  The psychologist who analyzed the implications of reporting Robin Williams’ death suggests “the incorporation of stricter punishment for media outlets that choose to ignore WHO regulations” is crucial to “protect the vulnerable audience that they are attempting to reach” (5).  This is often disregarded in the discussion over objectivity and censorship in journalism.  Who is the audience that this content is targeted towards?  Fans of a celebrity who dies are more likely to consume an immense amount of material related to their death, in comparison to the rest of the population.  Therefore, the articles containing information about these celebrities’ deaths should be careful when speaking about the details of the death, especially in cases where it is disturbing (Fu).

Irresponsible reporting about suicides is also noted in the study, “The Impact of Media Reporting of the Suicide of a Singer on Suicide Rates in Taiwan.”  After a young female singer in Taiwan died from charcoal burning, there was an increase in the suicide rate in Taiwan.  Most notably, there was a use of this same method of charcoal burning among young females of the same demographic as the singer.  When a vulnerable audience, such as young females, are exposed to the suicide of someone similar to them, it makes them more likely to follow suit.  In this case, the articles written about the young female singer should be careful when discussing the tragic mode of suicide (Fu).

It is evident that irresponsible journalism can have catastrophic implications on the public, as they are exposed to this material constantly.  Media companies should be more closely monitored in their reporting of celebrity suicides and should experience punishments if they do not follow the SPJ Code of Ethics and the WHO guidelines for responsible reporting.  A punishment could be a substantial fine, in order to deter journalists from following the path of sensationalist journalism.  The reason why these guidelines should be approached with much seriousness is the amount of deaths that have been caused by reckless journalism that has tainted the portrayal of many celebrities.  

Conclusion

Drug addiction and mental health disorders have been present in the entertainment industry as far back as we can remember.  The stressors from fame, such as paparazzi, media coverage, and harmful sentiment on social media, can have damaging impacts on celebrities, leading to mental health disorders and seeking an escape through substances.  Stars that rise from childhood miss out on the normal carefree childhood experience, leading them to delay their childish behavior to later in life.  The 27 Club also relates to these issues because drug addiction and mental health disorders hastens the deaths for many talented artists.  Finally, the media plays a large role in our consumption and interpretation of these celebrity drug scandals and suicides.  In order for change to be made, media companies need to work on distributing truthful and objective information that will not harm the general population.  As it appears to the public, celebrities are basking in glamor and luxury.  But, the view from the top may not be as scenic as it seems.

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