The Splintered Chat #4
I've got a great weekend ahead. Hope you do, too.
Let's open up our weekly chat again. Topic this weekend is Heath Ledger. I know. I know. If you dig him, you can't get enough of him. If you don't, you're wondering what all the fuss is about. How about this? How many of us have self-medicated our anxiety and depression? I haven't. Not with recreational or prescribed drugs. However, I have my vices. Who doesn't? But do we let them destroy our lives? I had hoped to blog about this yesterday but I've been really busy with sick kids, saving the world, you know the routine... I'd really like to hear what you think on the subject.
Comments will be closed late Sunday night, or sometime Monday when I remember, "Oh yeah! I've got to close the comments!"
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Let's open up our weekly chat again. Topic this weekend is Heath Ledger. I know. I know. If you dig him, you can't get enough of him. If you don't, you're wondering what all the fuss is about. How about this? How many of us have self-medicated our anxiety and depression? I haven't. Not with recreational or prescribed drugs. However, I have my vices. Who doesn't? But do we let them destroy our lives? I had hoped to blog about this yesterday but I've been really busy with sick kids, saving the world, you know the routine... I'd really like to hear what you think on the subject.
Comments will be closed late Sunday night, or sometime Monday when I remember, "Oh yeah! I've got to close the comments!"
Like reading The Splintered Mind? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, or subscribe!
Comments
From what I've read, he has had trouble with drugs in his past. He was on Zoloft and Ambien and Valium, which sounds like a brutal cocktail IMO. I know he asked a friend to call him to help him wake up the next day, so he knew he was knocking himself out.
Where I start to feel bad is when I learn he was shaken up with the separation with his wife and daughter. He took the separation hard and began to abuse his body. Somewhere along the way in life he learned to use drugs as a form of escapism. It was only a matter of time before his body failed on him.
As a Mormon, I never was tempted with smoking, drinking, or recreational drugs. I've never used any of them. Girls were my weakness. I'm no saint, unfortunately. However, I have used entertainment as a form of escapism to deal with Depression at times. I'll lose myself in the internet while hunting down news - anything new that I haven't read before. I'll read books and lose myself in them. I'll pick up new projects and get caught up in the thrill of the new pursuit. None of these are on the same scale as hard drug usage, but they can have similar effects when they become addictions.
When we feel compelled to escape, that is when we are no longer in control of our lives. Time ticks away and we have nothing to show for our time on this Earth except for our trivial pursuits. I try to keep this in mind when Depression attacks.
I really can't relate with Ledger's lifestyle, but I understand escapism as a form of medicine. It is a shame he wasted his life this way.
Whether he committed suicide or not is not an issue for me, though I lean towards accidental overdose. The fact that he was using drugs to self-medicate that eventually took over his life is what concerns me. That and I've used both Zoloft and Ambien in the past. Neither drug worked well for me. Ambien was a nightmare. I am better off without them and a part of me thinks that Ledger, and everybody, would be better off without them as well.
~Douglas
My prayers go out for Heath Ledger's family. I haven't seen any of his work, nor would I probably care to (movies are a luxury at our income, and money is better spent on food or medical bills at this point).
email me stellarlife@yahoo.com
I was a Heath Ledger fan. The facts are not known to us,may never be, but medicine is sometmes needed. My view is whatever works for you. Health is so individualized;no one can tell another what path to follow. Seek happy. Be safe.
http://dj-astellarlife.blogspot.com/
Ledger's little girl will be missing him as she grows up. I know he was in pain, but I wish he had found other ways to deal with it.
Diane ~ Yes, medicine is sometimes needed, but should not be abused. I can't speak for Ledger, but I can speak for me and others like me. So I'll recommend paths to follow. Whether people take them or not is up to them.
Thanks for posting.