A dual diagnosis for Princess Leia
Carrie Fisher was cast as Princess Leia in the seminal 1977 science fiction movie Star Wars and enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of Hollywood elite. But, as she reports in her new memoir, Wishful Drinking, it came with a price.
According to Fisher, who as the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds was no stranger to Hollywood, she couldn’t handle the success and soon became depressed and stricken with anxiety. These conditions led her to substance abuse, and it being the 1970′s she soon found herself with easy access to LSD, cocaine and other drugs.
Years of drug addiction followed, with the actress finally bottoming out when she developed a bipolar disorder and then overdosed on prescription sleeping pills.
That she is willing to share these painful memories and not have a movie to promote is refreshing in a town where everyone seems to have a marketing-relative motive for everything that comes out of their mouth.
But Ms. Fisher seems to find a genuine catharsis in discussing the sordid side of her past:
“I am only as sick as my secrets,” said the actress in a recent interview, in a comment that is as true as it is funny.
With drug rehab a headline maker due the celebrity residents who check in there, it is easy to forget how many people receive genuine life saving treatment from these facilities. Carrie Fisher’s journey may have started long ago, in a galaxy far, far away – but it ended with her receiving addiction treatment when she needed it most.
