The world has lost another good music star to drug overdose and even as the world mourn I am also trying to solve the puzzle of why is it always among music stars and celebrities that the incidence of drug overdose happen to. About two months ago the world almost lost Demi Lovato after she overdosed and almost died and now Malcolm James McCormick best known by his fans as Mac Miller was not so lucky and has died. Listening to the song “so afraid” by Janelle Moane, I get so scared about life and how it can spill out from our hands even before we can live it. The truth is that everyone who is at the floor of life are scared of not making it. And yet when you make it, you begin to face new problems of being yourself because fame and fortune are the two “Fs” that gives and take away from you very quickly if you fall into the hands of depression.
According to Wikipedia (2018), Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, tendencies, feelings, and sense of well-being. This can affect different people of different ages and class irrespective of their positions in life which makes it scarier. When you are broke and unknown, you are depressed by the fear of not making it, remaining poor and irrelevant just like what is described by Janelle in “so afraid”. When you are rich and famous, you can also be depressed because you lose some of the essential things of life which are love and real friendship. In the song of Camila Cabello she sings about this letting us know that when you attain a certain form of greatness that you lose the possibility of having real friends and love.
In as much as depression happen to the rich and poor, I could argue that it is easy for a poor man to deal with depression than for a rich and famous person. One bad thing about depression is that as strong as it seems; it can be termed a relatively weak disease because it can be cured by sharing with people what you are going through. But as simple as this is, stars can’t use this remedy because of their social class. When you are a star weather a music or movie star your life is under a microscope and what you say to people can ruin you. This makes many of these stars result to the use of pharmaceuticals and bottle alcoholic drinks to deal with the issue of depression they are facing. Eminem is one of the music greats living who talked about becoming a slave to prescription pills and alcohol because he could not sleep due to depression. Logic sings about it in his songs telling people that at some times he feels like his life is not is. Unlike a poor and unknown man who could have a real friends come over and pour their hearts out to them; a musician or a music star cannot do that because they are supposed to be super Humans to their fans which in most cases robs them of their own life just like Mac Millers life. The only poor people who die of depression are persons who have a high element of ego and pride. Because if a poor person understands that he or she has nothing to lose if he or she shares his or her problems; then being heartbroken and depressed won’t happen. But when you are rich and famous like Mac Miller, you do not in most cases have a choice about your situations because you have to preserve the brand you have worked all your life to build.
Depression becomes a silent killer because like Logic puts it, “I am hurting deep down but can’t say it”. This previous expression becomes a daily ghost you have to fight with as a Super Star because you want to save face and save your brand. When you are a person of weak will power, you result to drugs and alcohol abuse which is a terrible mix with depression. Why they are a bad mix is because the volume of the drugs or alcohol you take is directly proportional to the level of depression which you are going through. And over time you get to pass your different threshold of drugs and alcohol intake which pushes you to take more and more. This eventually leads you one step away from your grave because one demon about depression is that when the potency of the drugs and alcohol fades; the bars of depression are raised in geometric progression. In some cases you just snap and take many dose just to feel better. But the truth is that when you sleep it might just be you final sleep. Sad news about Mac Miller and my prayers are with his family. If you are a relative to a pop star please reach out to them and make them feel comfortable to share their problems with you and please never betray them.
