Upon reading my morning drivel online (newspapers are so 2002) I stumble upon on … well StumbleUpon; Lindsay Lohan mania. Omg she’s on Trazedone … did you hear she takes Zoloft? She has to go to J A I L … the NERVE! They made her wear a “scramble bracelet” (to identify alcohol in the system) can you believe it?” Seriously folks. This chick has had more chances than laps I’ve sat in … it’s a very high number trust me. Another installment of celebrity recovery show … in the limelight watching addiction at it’s very best/worst.
We get sober/clean consequentially. Meaning something “bad” has to happen for us to GET IT … be it internal or external stimuli. Bottoms – up leads to “bad” things happening. Or do they? Paradoxically speaking sometimes we have to lose to win. Those of us on the 12 step tip get that. Most times anyway. Realizing that we have to be stripped clean to live again … to know internally that our addiction is the cause for all the chaos and strife. Until that point it’s “everyone else’s fault” – sorta the nature of the beast. Livin’ on a boat in the middle of DeNial River. Up the creek without a … okay I’m done with the cheezy sayings (for now).
Ninety days in jail for Miss Lohan. And according to the Associated Press:
- Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to jail and rehab on Tuesday. As reported by the Associated Press (AP) the actress was issued the sentence after Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel found her to be in violation of the terms of her probation, which stemmed from a 2007 drug case.
- The 24-year-old takes a multitude of prescription medications, including Nexium (for acid reflux and stomach acid,) Zoloft (an anti-depressant,) Trazodone (another anti-depressant with sleep inducing properties), Adderall (for Attention Deficit Disorder,) and the occasional Dilaudid (a narcotic pain reliever) used in her case for dental pain. Lohan also claimed that she has “been on the same prescription medication for as long as she can remember.”
Dilaudids? I wonder if they approved that at all those swanky treatment facilities/resorts. Dr. Drew would say NO! Testing positive for amphetamines and opiates, a scramble bracelet detecting alcohol led to a PV. Violation baby. It happens to the best of us … addicts that is. Money might buy you a million chances, but when the shit hits the fan … dope fiends are gonna get caught. Or die. That’s what else a million chances can get ya. Cremation or coffin-ation.
So yes 12 step recovery keeps us clean. But there are many factors to get us in the rooms in the first place. Nudging Judges may appear like a pain in the rump, but really may be angels in disguise. We don’t always know what’s best for us … and certainly not what the truth about our addiction is. So keep on nudgin’ and we’ll keep on trudgin’ … welcoming the newest members of the probation violaters to the rooms – with open arms. As for me? Imma send Lindsay some street cred to her commissary … oh wait Lady Gaga already did that one. *shakes head* Silly celebrities. Just a fiend/drunk … like me. We’ll be waitin’ for ya girl.
Like you said, Lindsey’s had more chances than you can shake a stick at. But in the final analysis, she’s just a big ole druggie/drunk like me.
I too have watched her various meltdowns and run-ins with the law and the depressing revolving door of her rehab experience. I wonder if there are just way too many people around her that have tons of incentive for not letting her hit bottom. She might not be the only selfish party in the pill mix, you know? And, let me face it, I’ve gotten my own version of TOO MANY chances; but I’m grateful that the people around me decided to get out of my way and let me fall and fall hard. I’m just lucky bottom wasn’t the bottom of a grave. Don’t know if Ms. Lohan has people around her who are willing to let her fall that hard.
I think the other issue about these celebrity addicts revolves around the way the media portrays their addictions. Whether it’s Mel Gibson drunk dialing his ex-girlfriend or Paris Hilton arrested again for coke possession–the media splashes it around in the most unhelpful ways. It’s either a topic of mild hilarity or scandal. And the upshot always seems to be the not-so-veiled contempt that the presenters have for these famous drunks and dopers. It’s a contempt based on a misunderstanding of addiction that I think helps to perpetuate in many people’s minds the notion that overcoming addiction is about willpower, rational choice, and moral fortitude–and that remaining addicted is just a character flaw (which we love to attribute to the rich and famous).
The only rehabilitation the media is interested in is image-rehabilitation. It was refreshing to see Jamie Lee Curtis come out as an addict and to have her address her recovery in clear, sane language. This during the time when Lindsey was lying her head off about having “changed” during her short stint in re-hab, sadly focused on her public image.
Maybe that “nudging judge” can get that young woman to smell the strong coffee out of the fog of her image-rehab; but I’m not holding my breath.
My my my aren’t we judgemental!!! lol Someone in the limelight is doing worse than us – let’s point the stick at them! Better still, let’s beat them with it!
I’m surprised. I thought recovering people would be the first to show compassion. In this case obviously I’m wrong.
Down the street in SoCal with fellow 12Steppers making money off her disease.
For me it took desperation to get here and desperation to stay here.
When the pills, the booze & the people didn’t work for me anymore I was beaten into a state of reasonableness.
I notice more & more how self-righteous we become. No, really most of us have allways been that way.
I didn’t get here to get good.
I got here to get safe.
Balls to the wall Lindsey. Do it till you can’t do it anymore–just like we did. We’ve got a seat for you.
Just stay alive long enough to sit in it.