Bloody shame

[Natalie Severn]

You can't blame her dad. I'm sure he did everything he could but, as Adam has pointed out, the conquest of addiction must come from a sincere determination on the part of the addict.

Well who encouraged her as a child towards a career in show business? Her parents sent her to stage school and demonstrated an ambition for her in show business but Amy couldn't handle her success-wasn't made for the big stage---fell apart on it .Yes she had a wonderful talent but she couldn't hack it out there
and needed to find an outlet for it that didn't demand her on stage -just my own view

[Steven Russell]

You can't blame her dad. I'm sure he did everything he could but, as Adam has pointed out, the conquest of addiction must come from a sincere determination on the part of the addict.

[Errata]

And I'm sorry her family is dealing with this, but they probably should have thought about this when they decided that they had done all they could. Because they clearly didn't.

What a contemptible, idiotic sentiment.[/QUOTE]

Contemptible, possibly. Idiotic, no.

Unless a person is end stage, we don't let them not treat cancer. We don't let people not treat broken bones, concussions, heart disease, diabetes. We declare them incompetent if they try. We scream, we bully, we sit on them and take them to hospitals against their will.

Why do we let people not treat mental illness? We know full well it can kill them, or others. Are we so ashamed for them that we are willing to let them die? What precisely is the reasoning there?

Her father had no problem airing his concerns for her health in the press. Why didn't he petition the courts to actually do something about it?

[Limehouse]

I think it must have been enormously hard for Amy to handle the exposure and adoration that followed her first two albums. She ws 20 when Frank made her a world-wide star. Some people who are so driven can never believe they are as good as people say they are. They often feel that they are 'winging it' and one day they will be found out. They also become very self-critical and believe they are 'ugly' and do not want to be seen and photographed constantly. They feel out of control and often need a 'crutch' to give them confidence - hence the drink and drugs. Haven't we seen it so often before?

The public can be very demanding of their stars and when you are so young and fame and fortune comes so fast your life can roller coast out of control.

We should take better care of our young and vulnerable stars.

[Adam Went]

Errata:

Yup, i'm with you on that one. Harsh though it may be, what you're saying is true.

Without sidetracking the issue, here in Australia we know a lot more about drug addiction these days thanks to one of our greatest sportsmen of the past couple of decades, Ben Cousins. All Australians are familiar with his story, it's impossible not to be. He was a star Aussie Rules footballer, Captain of his club, the West Coast Eagles, Brownlow medallist - the highest accolade which can be awarded to an individual player - Premiership player....the list goes on and on. And yet for most of his career he had been all of this at the same time as he had been a drug addict - and I mean a genuine, hardcore drug addict. He took and did everything you can imagine and came very near to death himself on several occasions. He would leave his own father to sleep a night in a bus shelter on a miserable, wet night, as his father pleaded for him to stop, while he went to get a "fix" - one instance among many.

I know his story well - there was barely a time you could switch on the news around 2007/2008 without hearing that he'd done something else wrong. Eventually he was sacked from the Eagles. He took himself off to rehab in the US and fought and fought and fought to get himself right - just as his life was about to go down the gurgler, my club, Richmond, gave him a second chance as a player. He became clean and he played two seasons with my club, before retiring last year and being chaired off by his team-mates and hailed by the public as a champion and a hero.

At the end of his career he released a documentary detailing his addictions and his story, called "Such Is Life". He also released a book, a biography, which detailed everything in such a truthful manner that it was impossible not to sit up and take notice.

The simple truth is that yes, drug addicts need the support and help of their friends and family, but at the end of the day there is only so much they can do - there has to come a point when the addict has to want to help themselves, they have to want to come clean. That's not to say that there won't be setbacks - Ben Cousins had plenty and relapsed several times - but Amy Winehouse had been on a downhill spiral for years and even she could surely see she was leading herself to an early grave. They come from worlds apart but they share one thing in common and that is that they were two young people who both had to battle their demons under the constant scrutiny of the media and public eye.

At the end of the day Cousins fought it and is still with us today, Winehouse couldn't fight it and she's been lost. As cynical as it sounds, the simplest solution is just to simply not touch the stuff. Ever. Don't give it the chance to get a hold on you in the first place.

And if there's anybody out there who still holds different views about drug addiction, for god's sake, get yourself a copy of Ben Cousins' book - even if you don't have the first clue about footy, it'll open your eyes like nothing else.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Rya]

Was she actually diagnosed as Bipolar? I heard it as only one of many rumors surrounding her aberrant behavior.

Perhaps it was her stubborn, intractable, and manic personality that made her the original artist that she was; perhaps, as she suggested in her most famous song, being "rehabilitated" would have ruined her forever, even if it extended her life. And I don't mean this in some fanciful, romantic way, either. Strength and weakness in a personality are very often the same thing.

And perhaps she had done everything in music she would ever do.

[Steven Russell]

And I'm sorry her family is dealing with this, but they probably should have thought about this when they decided that they had done all they could. Because they clearly didn't.[/quote]

What a contemptible, idiotic sentiment.

[Errata]

Not to sound ugly, but she never had a chance at survival. She was medicating Bipolar Disorder with drugs and alcohol, had a raging eating disorder, emphysema, and most likely bleeding ulcers. She very well may not have overdosed. She may have simply died of exhaustion. Treating her Bipolar would have given her a better chance at sobriety than rehab ever could, but she refused. What happened to her happens to the mentally ill all the time. The only difference is she actually had the resources to get treated, while most don't. It's hard to feel bad for someone who throws it away, and it's hard to sympathize with the people that let her. It's like no matter how many times this happens, and you KNEW it was going to happen to her, people still don't seem to understand sometimes loving someone means telling them that either they get their **** together or get out of your life. And I'm sorry her family is dealing with this, but they probably should have thought about this when they decided that they had done all they could. Because they clearly didn't.

[Adam Went]

Obviously very sad, but I also feel sorry for her friends, family and associates who had tried to help her through all of her addictions. At the end of the day if she'd chosen a different path she still would have been recording for the next 50 years. As a musician she would have known about all the other great musicians who had been lost to us too early through drugs in the past (Hendrix, Joplin, etc have already been mentioned). The best we can probably hope for out of this sad news is that others who liked her music who are thinking of going down the same track will pull themselves up before it's too late and turns into a vicious cycle.

Cheers,
Adam.

[babybird67]

I never liked her music, too sad for me,

but i hope she rests in peace.

RIP Amy.

[jason_c]

Its no surprise, but still a surprise. If that makes sense.

[Archaic]

Hi everyone. I was sorry to hear the news too, though not surprised. I think Amy Winehouse had an absolutely incredible voice.

Amy died at 27, like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.

Just think of all the music they still had inside, which the world will never hear.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Limehouse]

This is terrible news. Such a wonderul talent gone to waste. Rest in peace Amy.

[Suzi]

Breaking news Poor Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her North London home today at 4.00pm
Bless Her...dear Amy xx