Celebrity, Depression and the People that Care

The months of February and March of 2007 celebrity deaths due to depression scarred the news. Comedian Richard Jeni, Richard Delp of the rock group Boston and the most noted Anna Nicole Smith depression related deaths scored front page headlines. Their deaths expose many questions surrounding the events. Most of them left to the wind as open-ended quandaries. If you are like most people, you question the role of those that were supposed to care for them. The answer many times is not as you imagined. The reason behind this is the lack of true depression awareness and understanding in our society.

Fame, fortune and depression

There are sites devoted to pigeonholing the famous as either having a depression disorder or possibly having a depression disorder. The fascination does not come from knowledge or respect of the disease. It comes from the inbred disbelief that someone who has obtained a "privileged status" like this in our society would have such a problem. It is as if the public feels "you are rich and famous and that makes you immune."

A possible exception

Of the aforementioned group, Anna Nicole Smith is the one who people will generally rate an emotional bye. After all, her son died shortly after the birth of her daughter. Child bearing and the after birth especially in older woman like Anna are known to cause hormonal havoc to the body. Pile on the death of your only son on top and you have a basic overload on the person's physical, mental and emotional well being. Still, the questions return all return to the roles of the friends, family and lovers.

The question of "Where were they for them?"