The price of fame: success, mental health and addictions.

Economic and social success can lead to having access to everything. And this can be a trap.

A new example of the high price some people pay for fame recently hit the media. Demi Lovato, the Disney star that thousands of young people yearn for, confessed her addiction to cocaine and alcohol.

Years and years of trying to convince herself that she controls a dizzying world, without realizing that addictions are a Russian roulette where it is very difficult to get out of it. Everything a constant effort to show an image of triumph, glamour and success, while reality was calling out to her.while reality knocked at her door in the form of suffering, disappointments and mental alterations.

Disney's own structure enhanced it, showing young people in a permanent party where family references were almost nonexistent. He made denial and concealment a way of life, in which economic results are more important than the person himself. The artistic image ended up destroying the person who struggled to fit in.

The relationship between addictions and economic success.

Substance abuse and alcoholism have a high relationship with mental illnesses and in the present case it could not be less. Manic episodes, depression, bipolar disorder and bulimia were some of the illnesses that they tried to hide behind a smile and a marketing campaign.

Perhaps Demi Lovato's case is the most recent, but not the only one. Very striking cases such as that of Amy Winehouse, with her death at the age of 28 and having just reached her peak, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley, give us an endless list of people who knew the curse of a poorly assimilated fame.

Is fame dangerous?

A study conducted by researchers C.R. Epstein and R.J. Epstein, professors at the University of Queensland School of Medicine, entitled Death in The New York Times: the price of fame is a faster flamesets before us some overwhelming conclusions. Old age is shown to be the leading cause of death for civil servants, liberal professionals, academics, teachers and doctors, while it is the leading cause of death for singers, actors, actors, musicians, musicians, actors, actors and doctors. singers, actors, actresses and creative professionals, while it is in the minority..

The second group, linked to "fame", The use of psychoactive drugs such as anxiolytics and opiates as coping strategies that are proven to be lethal in the long term.The use of psychoactive drugs such as anxiolytics and opiates as coping strategies that proved to be lethal in the long term. Tobacco abuse and excessive alcohol consumption differed very significantly with the first group of "non-famous", with a higher number of non-smokers and non-drinkers detected in this group.

The researchers indicated that cancer, particularly tumors in the lungs, were more common among the artists.. On the other hand, the study notes that the psychological and family pressures of having a successful public life lead to self-destructive tendencies throughout their lives.

Although it is true that in many cases of deceased celebrities there are examples of an overly permissive education, abuse or mistreatment, these people would be more willing to take for granted the serious psychological and physical costs that will have an impact on their lives if this leads to fame, understanding it as a necessary "price" to pay.

The "all available" trap

It is sometimes complicated for a person sometimes in full development, to see that from one day to the next all that accompanies him/her are smiles, praises, fans, money and facilities. A world that spreads out at their feet like a red carpet where everything that can pass through their minds is available at a moment's notice just by asking for it.

A world without limits where sometimes artists are squeezed to the maximum by record labels, representatives or their own relatives without caring about the consequences of creating an unreal world where everything is allowed.

Actor James Dean, with his phrase "Dream as if you were going to live forever, live as if you were going to die today", put before us the ingredients of the recipe for success: fame and money. The tenebrous history of fame insists on demonstrating that some of those who savor it fail to assimilate its transcendence and end up being devoured by their own shadows.

Bibliographical references:

• C.R. Epstein, R.J. Epstein; Death in The New York Times: the price of fame is a faster flame, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Volume 106, Issue 6, 1 June 2013, Pages 517-521, https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hct077.

Ismael Dorado Urbistondo