Originally Posted By pecos bill I guess what I have a problem with is how all the attention is turned onto the celebrity, when there are hundreds of thousands suffering in obscurity, and no one seems to give a damn about them. I think of the homeless people on the streets of our cities, many of whom are mentally ill and will never get any help. Its pretty tough to understand the huge outpouring of care and sympathy for someone who will undoubtably get the best medical help available on the planet! Perhaps her crisis will open more people up to the plight of the unknown and uncared for, but I doubt it. She will recover with her private psychologist and staff, while recuperating in a private villa somewhere in the south of France. Meanwhile, the unknown thousands will continue to suffer in complete anonymity in the dark gutters and cracks of our great nation.
Originally Posted By jonvn "no one seems to give a damn about them." It is not that I care that much about Britney Spears. She makes more money in a month than I will see in 5 years. That still does not excuse people wishing death upon her, or saying cruel horrible things about her. She has an illness like any other illness, and it is not self-inflicted. She gets more attention because she is famous. She also gets more grief, and her problem is known to the world. Most people would not wish to be known as a sufferer of mental illness, let alone to the entire world.
Originally Posted By pecos bill There is every reason to believe she will make a complete recovery of whatever it is that ails her. Many people do seem to get a perverse glee out of seeing the rich and famous suffer, or perhaps it makes them understand that they are not so different from the rest of us. To me, she is a non issue, except for the fact that you cannot escape hearing about her.
Originally Posted By jonvn "There is every reason to believe she will make a complete recovery of whatever it is that ails her." While I hope this is the case, it might not be true at all. Some people end up impaired for the rest of their lives.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Well, if she does not recover, it certainly wont be for a lack of professional care.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I don't think anyone *completely recovers* from mental illness. It's an ongoing issue. You can control it by medication and learn to take care of yourself in other ways but it will always be there. When a person suffers from deep depression, it's very common that their level of happiness during good times is a little less. The more depressive bouts a person has, the harder it can become to even get back to normal. Everytime people have a discussion about mental illness, it shows that it isn't something to be ashamed about, that it is a REAL illness. That attitude will only HELP people seek and get help. While it's not great that the media focuses so much on Britney, at least some people are trying to have honest discussions and hopefully more people will change their views about mental illness. It is the small positive thing in this huge mess.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA The bottom line is that the photographers and weird-os who follow Britney around don't give a rat's patootie about her. They care nothing of her illness or her kids, or anything else. All they care about is the picture that they can sell to a magazine or other rag.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Dr. Drew Pinsky was on a TV show last week promoting his show about addiction. They showed a clip of Taxi's Jeff Conaway having a meltdown in rehab. The guy looks horrible. The audience reaction was laughter. Dr. Drew sort of scolded the audience a bit -- "It's not funny, guys." And went on to explain a bit more about how addiction and mental illness affect celebrities, who are people after all.
Originally Posted By DAR <<Dr. Drew Pinsky was on a TV show last week promoting his show about addiction. They showed a clip of Taxi's Jeff Conaway having a meltdown in rehab. The guy looks horrible. The audience reaction was laughter.>> That show is very uncomfortable to watch. I do understand what Dr. Drew is trying to do, but maybe it should be on Discovery Health instead of VH1.
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Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/05/britney.spears.ap/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBI Z/Music/02/05/britney.spears.ap/index.html</a> Apparently her slime ball manager has been a big part of the problem.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost "Changed her three dogs clothes" What?? Anyway, jonvn, I understand what you are saying but the real crush of hate came in the beginning when it only looked like a spoiled little rich girl thumbing her nose at the rules. She came across that way. Many people just thought that she was just doing it for publicity. As it became more and more obvious that she had deeper problems then that, the death wish and put downs dropped way down. Most people now realize that she has some real trouble and, like myself, hope she can salvage her young life.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka But unless you know Britney personally, how can you say that she came across anyway? Do you really think that all of the things you saw on magazines and heard on tv were true? There's just no way to know the real story. All of these entertainment shows and magazines make money by how the chaos. They have a vested interest in making Britney looking bad. The article also said Britney's manager had some sort of relationship with the paparazzi. They all have millions upon millions of dollars to gain by keeping Britney a mess.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I don't mean that as an attack on you, Goofy, just at the situation in general.
Originally Posted By jonvn I still see a ton of people at different places wishing horrible things and saying horrible things. But some people are now starting to say, hey she really is sick...
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost ^^^that's pretty close to what I just said. And Mele...I didn't take it as an attack. There is no real justification but as humans we all make judgment calls. It just seemed that she was hanging out with the queen of spoiled...Paris Hilton. One's natural reaction is to feel that way. It is now obvious that it was the wrong conclusion to jump too!
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka It's funny how seeing someone hanging out with Paris can change your opinion of them. I have done it myself.
