(June 8, 2018 at 10:29 pm)Shell B Wrote:(June 8, 2018 at 7:21 pm)Wyrd of Gawd Wrote: The guy was a heroin addict. Like most people who want fame and fortune he couldn't handle it once he got it. When he first got on tv I watched some of his shows but soon got tired of him. I would flip the channel as soon as they showed one of his commercials.
Fuuuuuck you. He wanted to make good food and make enough money to have a life. Fame came with his success. It's hardly like he wished for it and then couldn't handle it. Moreover, he struggled with addiction since the 70s and 80s, meaning he had this problem far before he became famous. If you've ever had depression or have been suicidal, you know none of that means anything. You want to die because you are consumed by an overwhelming sorrow that doesn't seem like it will ever go away. In his case, it probably felt hopeless because he had the life he wanted and still wanted to die.
As far as I know, he's been sober for a while, but relapse is obviously possible. Still, don't be a douche. Some people, such as myself, really admired him.
Responses like Wyrd's are why we can't get government funding for mental health care, or have even just universal health care. The stigma of mental illness is a bad thing. "What'a wrong with you?" and "Buck it up", are not solutions. And anxiety and depression run in my family too. My older sister, older brother, whom are deeply fundy have it the worst. Ironically me and my younger sister who also have it, both of us atheists, cope with it far better.
And it doesn't help that American marketing sells hyper competitiveness, and the idea that if you don't work 80 hours a week you are a failure. Americans are overworked and underpaid, but even with that, even the well off or rich can also have the same problems as the middle class and working poor. The issue isn't drug use, or class, the issue is removing the stigma so that people can feel comfortable asking for help when they need it.
