What do you do with Lindsay Lohan? Lock her up and throw away the key? Laugh? Shake your head in disgust?
How about looking yourself in the mirror and making sure the person you see is the person you really are? Maybe there is more of Lindsay in us than we would like to believe.
Several weeks ago, I couldn’t have told you whether you whether Lindsay Lohan was a singer or an actress or both. Now I can’t help but know. The media has made sure of that. They’ve pounced on her and won’t let go. And Lindsay has given them no reason to back off; her outrageous antics continue. From her party-hardy lifestyle, to the Los Angeles DUI requiring her to wear an alcohol monitoring anklet, to the missed court dates, to the “f&-k you” message on her fingernail during her last court appearance, Lindsay has been on a roll.
Legal experts say she will likely only serve two weeks to a month of her 90 day sentence, due to the sheriff’s practice of releasing non-violent offenders because of overcrowding. Even so, Lindsay hasn’t given up the fight yet: she and her mother have talked with Chicago defense attorney Stuart Goldberg about helping Lindsay. She reportedly maintains that her human rights have been violated and intends to appeal her sentence.
And the saga continues.
Until what? Until she completely crashes and burns? Why this kind of behavior? Is it simply another spoiled celebrity who earned too much, too soon, and too easily? Is it just one more case of drug and alcohol abuse?
Or is there more to this? What causes people—not just celebrities—to destroy their lives? Is it a “death drive,” Freud’s theory that a force within us, pulling us down to self-destruction, rivals the upward push toward success? What compels people towards self-destroying addictions in the first place?
The 19th century psychologist and philosopher William James observed, “The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour.”
The power of denial and the compulsion to anesthetize oneself from the “cold facts and dry criticisms” of life cannot be underestimated. Recovering addicts know that the first step toward healing is to admit you have a problem. But that first step is oh so difficult because the addiction hides the truth. The person you see in that mirror may not the person you truly are; lying eyes under the influence deceive.
Sheryl Crowe’s 2004 hit song, “Strong Enough,” contained the lyrics: “Lie to me/I promise I’ll believe/Lie to me/But please don’t leave.” It’s sad when such words are written for a lover; it’s sadder still when the lover is a drug.
Life Matters, by David B. Whitlock, Ph.D., is published weekly. David’s email address is drdavid@davidwhitlock.org. You can also visit his website, www.davidwhitlock.org