Learning From A Tragedy: Whitney Houston’s Passing
The night before the Grammys, the musical industry lost someone who has had massive success years before – Whitney Houston. Even though there is no denying the vocal talent of Ms. Houston, it deserves to be said that her life plays out like a “how not to live your life in the fast lane” story. Immediately after her death, tributes started pouring in. People started blaming her ex-husband Bobby Brown for introducing her to drugs and abusing her physically. The problem was that it became commonplace to blame someone else for Whitney Houston’s addiction. Family members started speaking to the press afterwards about how much they wanted her to go into rehab again, and even bold claims being made that she was planning to enter rehab after she was done “enjoying herself.” The problem was not Bobby Brown – the problem was responsibility.
The Different Approach
One of the problems appears to be that some of our famous stars are treated so differently from ‘normal’ citizens. While people may blame Bobby Brown for introducing Whitney Houston to many different types of drugs in the first place, perhaps it is time for us to look at the people around her. Turn towards her publicist, her managers, and her supposed friends. It is interesting that people want to point blame to the initial enabler, yet no one appears to be scrutinizing the people that covered for her when the tabloids made it common knowledge that she had once again succumbed to drugs and alcohol. She was caught with a bag of marijuana at a Hawaii airport in 2002. Had an ordinary citizen been caught with the same amount, they would have been forced to go to jail or at the very least enter a mandatory treatment facility but not Ms. Houston.
The most important thing to remember is that Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston had not been together for a long time, when she passed away. Whitney Houston was an adult and she made her own decisions. However, what about the people surrounding her? There are two different viewpoints when it relates to them.
What About Those Surrounding Her?
What of those who claimed to love her; what part did they play? While this stance may appear controversial at first, there is no denying the claims in the end. The people surrounding her, those who managed her career, those who were supposed to be her best friends and closest family members – they knew that Whitney Houston had an addiction problem.
Yet when she once again entered treatment in May 2011 – again because of alcohol and drug related problems; she did so as an outpatient. This is after she struggled during an overseas tour and she had a history of checking in and out of rehabilitation centers. This woman had gone to rehab for pills, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine; yet never had an inpatient treatment.
Now the people surrounding her were either placating her when she kept heading to outpatient rehab facilities and failing miserably at staying sober (like so many others before her who try the traditional method of rehabilitation) or they were uneducated about the fact that outpatient treatment centers don’t work as well as inpatient centers. Either one seems like a horrible way to treat someone that you claim to care about.
Even though Bill O’Reilly appears to miss the point of addiction, he did have a level of truth to his controversial statement:
“Whitney Houston wanted to kill herself. Nobody takes drugs for that long if they want to stay on the planet. She follows in the footsteps of Elvis, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, and scores of other entertainment figures. The hard truth is that some people will always want to destroy themselves, and there’s nothing society can do about it.”
Bill O’Reilly is right about her desire in doing drugs being worrisome. Mr. O’Reilly, is most likely mistaken about her wanting to die, but it was clear that she was not getting the attention from others that she needed. She was supposed to have a comeback tour after recovering from a crack addiction; she relapsed during the 2010 concert tour, appeared short of breath on her British tour, and was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while in Paris. These are all signs that she was back to the initial drug of choice: crack cocaine. When she was claiming that her doing drugs again was “ridiculous,” it is a clear sign that she was in complete denial about her problems – yet no one around her decided to take action.
The Lesson To Be Learned
While Ms. Houston may have been known as a ‘diva’ both on and off stage, maybe it would have been in her best interest if someone had looked through that facade and actually told her that she was not taking care of herself as she should. Oftentimes, there are underlying problems that cause someone to turn to drugs and alcohol in the first place. While she may have entered rehab with the intention to stay clean, without addressing those underlying issues she had little to no chance of actually staying off drugs and alcohol.
Too often rehab centers are used as a star-studded method of apologizing for previous actions, to get some attention, or to explain strange decisions. Commonly, spokespeople for a particular celebrity have a generic statement that they are doing something to change their life, only to leave rehab weeks (and sometimes days) later. Unfortunately, it is now too late to make suggestions about what would or could have saved Whitney Houston’s life.
If anything good can come out of this sad situation, it is hopefully that people start to understand that addiction is not something that a mere two weeks of treatment can fix. There is no magic bullet to snap someone out of addiction. The truth is that addiction takes time to develop and it takes time to cure it; it would be crazy to assume otherwise. If you or someone you care about is struggling with addiction, just remember that ultimately it is the inpatient treatment facilities along with biophysical detoxification that are proven to provide a better chance for long-term sobriety.
March 27th, 2012 at 5:22 am
well said this case about whitney. it goes to say how IMPORTANT it is to get inpatient treatment or rehab. it’s all about getting better, not just a hype about wanting to kick the habit off, right? but sadly people around her gave in and caved in to each their agenda. now we lost a true talent!
March 27th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
What a shame to lose such talent this way! I hope these spotlight tragedies teach everyone a lesson in helping those around you. If they cannot be responsible for themselves, it is our responsibility to wake them up and help them get the help they need. How many more losses must we experience?
April 5th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Final autopsy report was no surprise. She certainly had the means to help herself, but needed someone to help her make that decision! This is lethal people – drugged up lifestyles kill, one way or another.
April 24th, 2012 at 10:01 am
I have not been in a facility that trteaed adolescent substance abuse problems exclusively. I have been in dual diagnosis facilities. They are facilities that treat substance abuse problems along with other psychiatric issues. I was placed in a facility like that because of a family history with substance abuse.Every place is going to be different, but schooling and social interaction are not generally the focus of these facilities. Some facilities will attempt to place tight controls on social interaction. This is do to the fact that interactions among adolescents in that environment can easily lead to inappropriate sexual behavior. I never found schooling in these facilities to anything beyond a poor substitute for real education. Often it consisted of time set aside to try and keep up with work from your real school. What may often have the greatest impact on day to day life in these facilities is whether they are secure or not. Maintaining normalcy can be very difficult when doors are locked.I strongly suggest you ask as many questions as possible at the places you are considering.
May 10th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
I just read about what biophysical rehabs are about. From the looks of it, it’s the wisest approach yet, if it only it could come with the most effective social, emotional an psychological therapies and measures. Yes, addiction will eat the physical system of a person and THIS is one thing that must be addressed. If not, the addicting components of the drug will remain inside the body, waiting to kick up and push the person back to the habit. Unless a person has super strong will to undergo other forms of treatment without focus on the physical dependency issues, then other types of rehabs just won’t work. So parents, spouses, siblings or friends should definitely decide on helping someone they love get into biophysical drug rehab facilities. That’s the best you can do for someone you really love – so they’re bodies can get be free from addiction.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Definitely agree about biophysical rehab to help clean the body of the drug toxins, as it will help with preventing relapse. I’ve also heard that the education you receive in the biophysical is more about life skills, helping yourself find why the addiction came to be, how to handle life without such crutches in the future, how to build a new future filled with goals to achieve. The combination sounds like a winner!
May 25th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
geeeez! why is everyone so affected by her passing? whithney simply was a great singer who lost everything because she was an addict. if we want to learn from that, the tragedy is she made wrong choices, went out with wrong people, got into wrong treatments or rehabs, and had the wrong mindset. everything about her addiction was wrong. now why do we have to bloat such wrongs in the daily news? get over it already! just mention her whenever we have campaigns against drugs and say, don’t get treatment where money can only buy comfort. get treatment in rehabs where your wellness and recovery is achieved!
February 26th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
the last thing i ever expcted for my wife to be is a drug addict. spicefically she is using heroin, i dunno, maybe for many months now. im a truck driver, i am always not around, and the kids are all in school, all 3 of them. she worked in a casino and all are good between us. i love her dearly and trusted her all the time, the way she trusts me. i knew she was drinking but didnt see that a problem because i drink too, though not very often. but something happend like last year, she begin to lose weight and my wife would say “oh, i took some hcg drops” which i believe. but soon she was asking for more money from me which she don’t do unless emergency needs at home. and then she said we need it for phone bills or a small loan from a friend. i even thought she’s gambling. hahaha. but now, i know it. my wife was hooked on heroin. but i only knew after she overdosed inside another man’s rented motel room, and they were 3 of them there, she and her friend and the man took off when she overdosed. it was tragic. my wife recovered but i decided right away she went to rehab or else she would suffer some more. as for her other actions like being in that motel, selling some of her jewelry, spending kids’ money and messing with our finances, i hope we can cope. but one step at a time, one day at a time. she’s been there 7 days and im trying to understand everything. maybe after a few weeks, i will have the strenght to go forward for the sate of the kids. addiction really kills hopes and dreams especially for the kids. and when a parent is a drug addict, it breaks their heart with sadness, hatred, confusoin and anger. i hope that others learn from my experience to never hesitate to check out the signs and simptons of drug abuse. before its too late and your wife will cheat just to get drugs or then get to the hospital cuz of overdose. its a tragicdy for us all!