Michael Jackson's Daughter Hospitalized After Slitting Wrist

The 15-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson has been hospitalized.

Apparently Paris Jackson slit one of her wrists and then called a suicide counseling hotline. The hotline professional called and had an ambulance sent to the family's home in Calabasas, California, a prominent part of Los Angeles.

The incident was described by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as police officers responding to "a medical situation" at 1:27am, that resulted in one patient being taken to the hospital.

A cry for help

Family members do not feel that Paris was actually attempting suicide, but they do recognize the incident as a cry for help. Paris has been having a really hard time being involved in her father's wrongful death trial. She is listed as a witness, but may not be called to actually testify. This feels like a lot of pressure to such a young girl who was traumatized enough by the untimely death of the dad she adored.

Lawsuit

Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, plus Paris and her brothers, Prince and Blanket, are suing AEG Live, the company they believe is responsible for the singer’s overdose death in 2009. AEG Live is the company that coordinated all of Michael Jackson’s tours. One doctor, who was hired to care for Michael on the 1993 “Dangerous” world tour, informed an AEG Live executive that, in his professional opinion, Michael was an opiate addict, in the form of injections, patches, and pills. The lawsuit now accuses AEG Live and its employees of ignoring that information and essentially turning a blind eye to MJ’s drug use.

Rehashing all of this information and having to relive the details of her dad’s death is clearly taking a toll on Paris Jackson. With the amount of stress and discomfort she and her family are enduring, it’s no wonder Paris is in need of help.

Although Paris spoke of the love she had for her father at his memorial service, it is always difficult having a relationship with an opiate addict. Is the reality of her father’s life setting in and she doesn’t know how to handle it?

Relationships with addicts

Michael Jackson never stayed sober, so essentially he was on drugs while raising his children. Any relationship with an opiate addict will not make much logical sense. Michael may have been nothing but loving to his children, but there is still a piece missing when a parent is high. Paris might be realizing just how absent her father was at times, and how he ultimately chose drugs over his own health.

Paris has reunited with her birth mother, Debbie Rowe. Hopefully that relationship can help create some stability in her life as she matures into adulthood.

Reports say that Paris is participating in a residential treatment program because she is still a danger to herself. What will be next for the only daughter of Michael Jackson? How will she and her family attempt to live a life of happiness and health?

Hopefully Paris can heal from the pain of an ongoing relationship with an opiate addict, in this case her father, and from the pain caused by his death?

Balboa Horizon's Kate Green is a quality improvement manager that is passionate about helping people with their struggles against drug and alcohol abuse. Learn more by reading her post about the growing epidemic of opiate addiction and abuse.

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Was Michael Jackson A Drug Addict Before His Death?

Dr. Stuart Finkelstein, who treated MJ during the 1993 “Dangerous” tour, says that yes, the singer was already addicted to prescription drugs at that point. The story has surfaced because the physician is testifying in the wrongful death trial currently determining who is to blame for the singer’s untimely death.

Continuous use

Dr. Finkelstein traveled internationally with MJ and when he realized that Michael was heavily abusing opiates, mainly in the form of morphine and Demerol, he told MJ’s camp of his concern. He communicated to an AEG Live executive and to Michael’s tour manager, Paul Gongaware, who is actually now also an AEG Live executive, that in his professional opinion, Michael Jackson is a drug addict. The physician gave Michael a shot of Demerol and a 24-hour intravenous morphine drip while the crew was in Thailand for a performance.

While on that leg of the tour, Michael complained of a severe headache, so Dr. Finkelstein called MJ’s Los Angeles doctor, who gave the orders to administer an injection of Demerol. The physician testified that Michael Jackson’s "buttocks were so scarred up and abscessed that the needle almost bent. He obviously had had multiple injections in his buttocks prior to arriving in Bangkok."

When Michael felt unable to perform, Dr. Finkelstein gave him another 24-hour dose of morphine. The physician was alarmed to see that Michael also wore a Duragesic patch, which allowed the user to absorb another form of opiate through direct contact with skin.

While testifying, Dr. Finkelstein also informed the court that MJ’s make-up artist and hairstylist was seen giving Michael Demerol injections. It appears that the singer has convinced everyone in his life to help him use opiates in various forms. It is actually quite amazing to think that the most popular performer in the world was addicted to such a harmful set of substances for so many years.

Refusing help

Apparently some of those closest to Michael also knew of his drug addiction. The “Dangerous” tour did not make it to all the intended cities. MJ’s good friend, Elizabeth Taylor, flew into Mexico City for an intervention. She took Michael to a hospital in England immediately, but his drug use did not stop.

The singer’s team did not do anything with the information at the time and the tour and his career were back to their number one priority. Michael continued to receive opiates via injections, patches, and ongoing drips.

What Michael needed instead was for his friends and family to look into drug rehab programs for men. Michael could have really benefited from formal rehab that forced him to be clean and to address his reasons for drug use.

Drug rehab programs for men could have offered MJ an opportunity to develop camaraderie and support that he and never before experienced. For the first time, the singer could have found understanding and relatability, and he could have worked through the tumultuous childhood and fame that seemed to haunt him. Instead, he self-medicated for decades and left behind three children.

A quality improvement manager at Balboa Horizons, Kate Green is passionate about assisting others on their journey in overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. Learn more about the addiction treatment process on this infographic.

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Amy Winehouse Died Of Bulimia, Not Drug Abuse

Newsflash: Amy Winehouse’s brother says that bulimia killed Amy, not drugs.

Alex Winehouse recognizes that his sister was on a path to death, but that it was ultimately years of her eating disorder behaviors that rendered her body too weak to continue functioning.

Bulimia symptoms and behaviors started in Amy’s teen years and did not subside, probably because she was never treated for the illness. She was also never treated well for substance abuse. 

Co-occuring disorders

With this news from Alex, we now know that Amy Winehouse could have been dually-diagnosed. In other words, Amy had co-occurring disorders: an addiction and an eating disorder.

When left untreated, just one mental illness or disorder is detrimental to the life of the sufferer. When two illnesses are happening at the same time, it is certainly harder to diagnose and treat. If you are abusing a drug that alters your brain chemistry, and therefore how you view the world, and subsequently act, it is really hard to tell if symptoms of a mental illness are from the drug use, or if they are a separate issue.

There are numerous treatment centers that treat co-occurring disorders during the same rehab stint. For someone like Amy, a focus on bulimia and on alcohol and drug abuse could have given her the opportunity to get change. People who have felt uncomfortable in their own lives, and in their own bodies, often turn to alcohol, cocaine, prescription pills, heroin, or whatever else to feel differently or to escape from your discomfort. When the drug use stops, and you are left with a life on pause, you want to immediately go back to the feeling the drug gave you.

Unenjoyable reality

Reality for these people is not enjoyable without substances. Cocaine, for example, can seem to help someone who has an eating disorder. In Amy’s case, the appetite suppressing power of cocaine may have been just what she was looking for: a way to eat less and maintain a smaller body weight.

The cocaine is masking the eating disorder symptoms, but below the surface, and when the person is not using, the symptoms come right back, sometimes even more intensely.

Amy Winehouse could have spent some time in rehab and healed the issues that lead to bulimia and substance abuse. She could have gotten better. Maybe her dad should have stepped in with more force to get his daughter the help she desperately needed.

Club 27

People loved her music. She definitely made her mark on the industry, and could have realized a sustainable creative career, but instead she joins the 27 Club (famous people who have died at age 27) whether it’s because of bulimia or substance abuse.

Sadly we will never know because she said no, no, no to rehab. It doesn’t make a difference what actually took her life because a young, talented woman is gone.

With dual diagnosis treatment, Amy could still be singing but with how she said yes, yes, yes to rehab and what adventures she can now experience without drugs and alcohol.

Kate Green is a quality improvement manager at Balboa Horizons Treatment Services that helps those who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.

Image Credit: 1, 2.