Another US celebrity has died due to alcohol and drug addiction. Lisa Robin Kelly is best known for playing Laurie Forman in That ‘70s Show. She also appeared in movies such as Payback, Clubland, and Jawbreaker. Lisa died while undergoing rehab treatment; she died in her sleep, but it may be some time before the exact cause of her death is determined.
Lisa Robin Kelly’s Decent into Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
Lisa Robin Kelly had been struggling with addiction problems for the last few years. Despite the successes in her life, things started spiralling out of control – she had a history of drink-driving offences, physical assaults, and spousal abuse, and was arrested four times. The toll of her addiction has also been obvious in the decline of her physical appearance. Lisa was once considered a sex symbol but her addiction caused her to age prematurely, making her look much older than her 43 years.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Lisa Robin Kelly had been working hard to get her life back on track; she opted for rehab to get the help she needed. According to friends, she sounded very positive and optimistic about the future. She seemed to be doing well, but it seems likely that the damage she had already done to her body proved too much. It is not believed that she relapsed – she just died in her sleep, possibly from a heart attack.
The Dangers of Continuing with Addiction
It is common for people who are caught up in addiction to console themselves with the idea that they will be able to stop the behaviour when things get bad enough. The problem with this approach is that there is no telling how long we have left – the death of Lisa Robin Kelly is testament to this fact. The longer we remain addicted to alcohol and drugs, the more damage we will do to our body and mind, and eventually we will reach a point of no return. There is good reason to believe that if Lisa Robin Kelly had managed to break away from her addiction problems sooner, she might still be with us today.
One of the reasons why people remain with their decent into addiction is that they believe there is a need for them to hit a specific rock bottom. This is because many of us will associate rock bottom with losing everything. The problem with this thinking is that if we keep on drinking or using drugs until hitting the lowest possible point, there is a good chance that we will wind up dead. The reality is that rock bottom only means that you have reached a point where you have had enough. Many people have a high rock bottom, meaning that they have to lose very little before they are able to stop. It is those individuals who keep going until they reach a low rock bottom that are most likely to end up like Lisa Robin Kelly.
The Destruction of Addiction
Addiction to alcohol or drugs has been responsible for many high profile deaths in recent months. The reality is that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg – for every celebrity that dies from addiction, thousands of non-celebrities do the same. This is an unacceptable loss of life – especially when we consider that it does not have to happen. There are now many viable paths out of addiction, and these can provide people with the ability to completely turn their life around. The problem is that there is a limited window of opportunity to make use of these options before addiction causes irreparable damage.
