Whitney Houston: Death By Addiction

Before reading any further, let me be clear: I do not presume Whitney Houston died of an overdose on drugs or alcohol. The news of her death is tragic but is anyone truly surprised? We all prayed that she would crawl out of the shell and return to her God given talent but deep down, didn’t we expect the worse? It was just a matter of time. Jails, Institutions and Death are the promises of addiction but not necessarily in that order.

An autopsy has been completed but the toxicology reports won’t be known until late February. TMZ has reported that she was taking Xanax and drinking alcohol the day of her death but those details come from someone without authority. What we do know is that Ms. Houston was a well documented and self admitted addict. It is the issue of addiction in general  terms that I write about here and how, left unchecked, will ultimately take the life of the most and least talented of us.

The lesson to be learned here is that addicts are both drawn to and fed on by parasites.  They cling on to those they deem to be worse than themselves so they can say “Well, I’m not as bad as him/her so I can’t be an addict. They are; I’m not.” Other addicts will be of the same mindset so they spiral down the slide to hell together, each claiming they are better than the other. In the case of Whitney Houston, it was Bobby Brown that provided the denial cycle.  He may have been responsible for enabling her addiction but he was not responsible for her recovery nor her death. Only an addict can make the decision to stop using. That decision is so very hard when your “entourage” encourages your denial by blaming addiction on others but the addict is ultimately responsible for their own recovery.

In the matter of Whitney Houston, she barely had a chance. Those around her addicted to drugs and alcohol enabled her by saying “A couple pills to take the edge off” and “A few drinks to loosen you up” are fine. Not a problem. Friends, family and even doctors were blinded by her denial and that’s the norm, not the exception, in relationships with addicts.

Then there are those that are not addicted to drugs or alcohol but are addicted to the treasures an addict may have. They feed off them to satisfy their own greed and with Ms. Houston, the bounty was aplenty.  She had an incredible talent for the parasites to feed off of and they played their part well.

While we mourn the death of someone so gifted and who touched all our lives with her voice, we must educate everyone about ambiguous perils of addiction.  A couple pills, or a single drink is not Okay for any addict. When you see someone you know (and we all know someone with this affliction) about to pick up a pill or drink, intervene with them and find them help no matter what the cost.