{"id":948,"date":"2013-08-21T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/?p=948"},"modified":"2013-08-21T14:35:32","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:35:32","slug":"child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html","title":{"rendered":"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"drugs\"<\/a>Drug addiction is often considered a problem found in low socio-economic sectors of society, but in reality anyone, at any age in life, is at risk for addiction. Some of the most wealthy and affluent people, because of their lifestyle and social settings, may actually be at greater risk for exposure to drugs at a young age. Combining this with pressure to perform and to not simply become a name of the past can create mental and emotional stress, particularly for those that may not have the support they need to make healthy lifestyle choices.<\/p>\n

Child stars in the movie and television industry seem to be particularly at risk for alcohol and drug addictions. This may be because of the intense public adoration that is placed on kids at a very young age. Children struggle to try to find a \u201cnormal\u201d, which often means they have to continually get that big part, continue to do well in life and be all things to all people. This pressure, combined with readily available drugs, can be a deadly combination.<\/p>\n

While many child stars are still battling drug addiction in very public ways, others have had their lives ended far too early because of the addiction or a combination of drug and alcohol abuse. This list includes such celebrities as Corey Haim, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, Judy Garland and Dana Plato to name just a few. Looking at the names it is easy to see this is not a new problem and drug abuse and child starts has been an issue for years.<\/p>\n

The sad fact for many of these young stars is that the adults in their life that are supposed to protect them may be at the heart of their addiction. Parents, managers and co-stars often promote the use of drugs through their own behavior and addiction issues. They may turn a blind eye to their child\u2019s drug use because keeping the child happy means ensuring a huge income; allowing them to live the life they desire.<\/p>\n

Many of the child stars with public drug and alcohol addictions have long standing feuds with their families or one or more of their parents. These stars often use alcohol and drugs as a way to deal with the stress, depression and emptiness that is so typical of children that feel abandoned, used and unloved by their parents. This group includes stars such as Lindsay Lohan, Drew Barrymore and Macaulay Culkin, all who ended up with significant and very public drug addictions as well as ongoing family issues.<\/p>\n

Sherry Gaba LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life, Love<\/a> & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rehab\u00a0\u00a0 on\u00a0 VH1. Sherry is the author of \u201cThe Law of Sobriety\u201d<\/a> which uses\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0 law\u00a0 of\u00a0 attraction<\/a> to\u00a0 recover from any addiction.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Please\u00a0\u00a0 download your free E book \u201cFilling The Empty\u00a0\u00a0 Heart\u201d\u00a0 and\u00a0 your \u201cAre You\u00a0 a\u00a0 Love Addict Quiz?\u201d at www.sherrygaba.com<\/a> Contact Sherry for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 webinars,\u00a0 teleseminars,\u00a0 coaching packages and speaking\u00a0\u00a0 engagements.\u00a0\u00a0Take\u00a0 Sherry\u2019s quiz for a free eBook Filling\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Empty\u00a0 Heart: 5 Keys to\u00a0 Transforming\u00a0 Love\u00a0\u00a0 Addiction.<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drug addiction is often considered a problem found in low socio-economic sectors of society, but in reality anyone, at any age in life, is at risk for addiction. Some of the most wealthy and affluent people, because of their lifestyle and social settings, may actually be at greater risk for exposure to drugs at a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":402,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12-steps","category-aa","category-addiction","category-agoura-psychotherapist-westlake-village-psychotherapist-calabasas-psychotherapist-malibu-psychoth","category-beyond-addiction","category-celebrity-addiction","category-celebrity-news","category-celebrity-rehab","category-law-of-sobriety","category-mental-health","category-recovery","category-sobriety","category-soft-addiction"],"yoast_head":"\nChild Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality - The Celebrity Therapist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality - The Celebrity Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drug addiction is often considered a problem found in low socio-economic sectors of society, but in reality anyone, at any age in life, is at risk for addiction. Some of the most wealthy and affluent people, because of their lifestyle and social settings, may actually be at greater risk for exposure to drugs at a…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Celebrity Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T18:22:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T18:35:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2013\/08\/drugs.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sherry Gaba\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality - The Celebrity Therapist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality - The Celebrity Therapist","og_description":"Drug addiction is often considered a problem found in low socio-economic sectors of society, but in reality anyone, at any age in life, is at risk for addiction. Some of the most wealthy and affluent people, because of their lifestyle and social settings, may actually be at greater risk for exposure to drugs at a…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html","og_site_name":"The Celebrity Therapist","article_published_time":"2013-08-21T18:22:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-21T18:35:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2013\/08\/drugs.jpg"}],"author":"Sherry Gaba","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html","name":"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality - The Celebrity Therapist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2013\/08\/drugs.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-21T18:22:45+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-21T18:35:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/0741dfc75bdebc7207322576ec56d97e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2013\/08\/drugs.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thecelebritytherapist\/files\/2013\/08\/drugs.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2013\/08\/child-stars-and-drug-addiction-the-tragic-reality.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Child Stars And Drug Addiction: The Tragic Reality"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/","name":"The Celebrity Therapist","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Sherry Gaba","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/0741dfc75bdebc7207322576ec56d97e","name":"Sherry Gaba","description":"If you think you might be codependent or a love addict, get Sherry\u2019s FREE Ebook, \u201cThe Truth about Codependency\u201d https:\/\/wakeuprecovery.com\/codependency-quiz\/ Sherry maintains a private practice in Westlake Village, and is a sought after transformationn and recovery coach. For more information visit www.sherrygaba.com or sign up today for Sherry\u2019s online group coaching program for codependents for $19\/month https:\/\/wakeuprecovery.com\/become-a-member-co\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/author\/sherrygaba"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}