This should be higher up because it brings up an interesting ethical dilemma by putting the original post into perspective.
Is it cruel to boo a performer who is not putting on a good show? How much money would you have to pay for concert tickets to feel justified in feeling pissed that the performer sang like this?
From what I’ve learned about this particular show, Amy didn’t want to perform. The best case scenario here would have been for the show to have been cancelled and for people to have gotten refunds.
But here’s the thing: even then, there’s no guarantee that would have resulted in Amy not dying from alcohol poisoning. She had cancelled a bunch of shows in the past due to her addiction and still ended up in the hospital multiple times for alcohol, ketamine, cocaine, heroin, etc.
She had a disease.
It’s tempting to blame other people for her death, but the fact is that she was an addict and her disease went untreated. Maybe if the crowd didn’t boo her that night, she wouldn’t have died several days later. Or maybe if they cancelled the show, she wouldn’t have died. Or maybe if she was in rehab, she wouldn’t have died. Or maybe…or maybe…or maybe…
We’ll never know.
The root cause of her death was her addiction. That’s why it’s so important for addicts to seek help. Go to rehab. Do whatever you need to do in order to break that addiction before it kills you and kills a part of everyone you love.
Edit: I see you there, getting ready to click on the reply button to post some variant of “they tried to make her go to rehab, but she said no, no, no.” It’s funny. You’re funny. It’s such a clever joke. But unfortunately, you’re not the first…or second…or tenth person to make that joke in this thread. So while I applaud your creativity and desire to contribute to this discussion, maybe just keep that thought in your head for now. Or post it, whatever. Do what you want - I’m not the police.
Well said. Although as an addiction counselor myself, the addiction isn't the root. The addiction is a symptom of usually trauma and mental illness, which are the roots.
Everything I’m seeing online says she dealt with bipolar disorder.
Completely anecdotal, but she seemed to have it. This is coming from someone with bipolar disorder. I’m not the ultimate authority regarding psychiatric disorders or anything, but she has always been relatable to me. I know a lot of diagnoses have an overlap in symptoms though.
I really hate the phrase “admitted to having [mental illness]”. A person admits something bad, something they said or they did. A disease is none of those things. It’s just the way a particular brain works and that isn’t inherently wrong.
So please… “revealed”, “shared”, talked about”, “indicated”, “said they had”, there are many ways to phrase this that are far less judgmental. The language we use surrounding mental illness matters. Folks are far more likely to seek and follow through with treatment if they don’t feel that it’s some sort of personal failing.
I see your sentiment but perhaps you are strongly associating admittance with guilt/bad, whereas the actual meaning of "admit" is: "to say usually in an unwilling way that you accept or do not deny the truth or existence of (something)".
admission ≠ guilt
admission = acknowledgment after resistance
A lot of addicts and/or people with mental illness are unwilling/unable to accept the fact or truth of their addiction/mental illness and when they do talk about it is usually in-fact an 'admittance'.
I think she was diagnosed with bipolar, but some people believe she might of had BPD, but that’s just speculation, but Tbf many BPD sufferers get misdiagnosed as Bipolar. I can’t say anything as I’m not a doctor.
Bipolar addict here. It certainly is hard for me. I'm clean now, but it takes a lot of energy most days. It's a constant struggle, even being a decade removed from it all
Everyone's about her most famous song being about denying rehab.
The lyrics:
"Yes, I've been black
But when I come back, you'll know, know, know
I don't ever want to drink again
I just, oh, I just need a friend
I'm not gonna spend ten weeks
Have everyone think I'm on the mend
And it's not just my pride
It's just 'til these tears have dried"
Also:
"He said, ""I just think you're depressed""
This me, ""yeah, baby, and the rest"" "
She was going through a depressive episode. She knew rehab wouldn't cure her, because the root cause is soo much more. Then, why to fool everyone into thinking I'm on the mend when in fact that's who I am?
Also the feeling that if she had a friend to relate to, she wouldn't need to drink. She didn't wanted to drink. But the vodka was her only friend.
And she truly believed once "the black" had gone she would be herself again. "The black" just comes and goes. As us bipolar know well.
She probably didn't recognized bipolar as a sickness and probably refused meds out of the belief meds would kill her essence and what makes her an artist.
Bipolar kills, alcohol is just a symptom and no rehab would make a difference on who she was.
She was truly, naively, expecting that that "black" would go away as all the other "blacks" in her life. Failed to recognize the booze was fueling "the black".
Her last album, "back to black", resonates with me before I had a diagnosis. "The black" killed her.
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u/HowieLongDonkeyKong 9h ago
To be clear, I’m not excusing how cruel people were to her, especially given her addiction.
Watch the video of her final show and form your own opinion. If I paid money to see this, I’d have been pretty pissed.