Amy Winehouse

[oldspice]

What a terrible loss. A wonderful talent gone to waste. Rest in peace Amy.

[DrWho]

A very sad end to a tragic life

[wjp666]

indeed. it's so terrible when someones 'demons' just become to overpowering. RIP.

[Forth Bridges]

It was not unexpected which makes it abit sadder. I wonder if Mr pete will get some blame...

[wjp666]

true, it wasn't exactly a shocker, was it? ranks right up there with steve irwin killed by a wild animal.

[wjp666]

oh, the decline!

[wjp666]

her demise has opened up all sorts of debate on the net about addiction not being treated as a proper illness. what does anyone here think?

i have a very addictive personality myself. though i am not an 'addict' in the true sense of the word or anything, mine is OCD... and the two are very closely linked in how they attack the brain etc.

so the question is: ADDICTION - self inflicted overindulgance or genuine illness?

[oldspice]

Addiction is a mental illness and sometimes accompanies people with an enormous talent who get a lot of exposure.

I think it works like this - you are talented and people encourage your talent. You enjoy doing whatever it is that you are talented at and at first you bask in the response that you get from people. You taste success and accept the accolades but then it gets frightening. What if it is a fluke and you are really not THAT good? How are you going to keep on matching what you've done before? How can you improve on FRANK? Ok - you've imporved on FRANK with BACK to BLACK - but what now? How can you find it in you to equal or improve on that?  God - everyone stares at me wherever I go. I cannot let my appearance fall below a certain standard or they'll crusify me. But haven't I always been ugly? Sod it - I need a drink. It always helps me relax and feel more confident. Then I can face the world.

I think it all goes downhill from there..

[wjp666]

i mention this because all i've been seeing on the net (facebook etc.) is people saying " big deal, one less smack-addict in the world." to me it's like saying "one less cancer patient" when someone dies of that. as a borderline crazy person myslef i can honestly say it really bugs me when people don't put mental illness on the same level as physical.

[oldspice]

The cause of death is not even confirmed as drug related.

Mental illness is hell. Amy was a talented performer but she was stricken with low self esteem and the drink and drugs helped her to cope. People should let her rest in peace. God bless her.

[wjp666]

i just read that her family are saying she died from withdrawal symptoms from being off the drink and drugs. if this is true it makes it even sadder... to think she could have died actually taking the right steps is beyond tragic.

and yes, mental illness is hell. but so many people (usually the so-called sane ones) so often refuse to even acknowledge its existance.

[goldencup]

Tragic indeed.

[Forth Bridges]

Better Q is do we let Entertainment business get away being full of Addiction on drink and drugs,

any other job you would get the sack!

[wjp666]

can you imagine the state of influential music WITHOUT the drugs and alcohol though?

[smurfboy]

i mention this because all i've been seeing on the net (facebook etc.) is people saying " big deal, one less smack-addict in the world." to me it's like saying "one less cancer patient" when someone dies of that. as a borderline crazy person myslef i can honestly say it really bugs me when people don't put mental illness on the same level as physical.

I agree totally. I also saw a lot of self-righteous people on Facebook saying 'who cares after what happened in Norway?' Of course the Norway incident was horrendous, but I fail to see how that means it doesn't matter that Amy Winehouse died. On that basis the Norway shootings aren't important because far more people died in 9/11. And 9/11 was a non-event because there were more deaths in the Second World War.