The results came back today and the results show Heath died from an accidental overdose due to a combination of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine. Which is quite a list of meds but it still does not answer the question from what seems like every news source on the planet it which is was it a suicide. Yes I know the autopsy reads accidental overdose but the media will still point to the suicide aspect as it sells more papers or attracts more people to their site.
What do I think? I don’t think the real answer will ever be known and the only person who is able to answer the question is no longer with us. There are reports that Heath was quite ill leading up to his death and there are reports about a long term substance abuse problems that have mental health tie ins so there are arguments for the accidental overdose and a overdose that was not so accidental. I know the theory that if he wanted to kill himself it would have been an obvious method such as a self inflicted gunshot or a hanging which make sense on the top surface but does not mix with reality. Accidental suicides are planned to look like accidents as the person comes off looking better and it is a lot less guilt for those left behind because accidents happen is a lot easier to justify then person X taking his/her own life so in an odd way the suicide victim is protecting their loved ones.
The two most common accidental suicides are prescription med overdoses and car accidents especially single car accidents. You hear about a car all alone on a highway hitting a telephone pole at a high rate of speed killing the driver most people will just assume the driver either fell asleep or there was a vehicle malfunction so the driver lost control leading to the crash but chances are at least some of them it was done on purpose to end the persons life. The only way to know the difference between a legitimate accident and an accidental suicide is to know the intent of the person involved which is very difficult to do on a mental scale as the brain can comprehend an accident easily but when it comes to looking at past behaviors and realizing the warning signs that become so bloody obvious afterwords it is not that simple so it is best to rule it as an accident and not a suicide.
All of these papers and television shows that thrive on famous peoples misery sicken me. Can they not see past the dollars and realize the pain a family is experiencing from the loss of its son, brother and father? Leave him alone he is dead go back and keep destroying Britney’s life and the suicide that seems to be right around the corner. A human being should help someone when they are in trouble and not exploit it. For Britney’s children’s sake I hope she gets the help that she needs and then falls off the radar as she has already paid the price of being a celebrity several times over so let these tabloids go find another victim to build up then destroy hopefully Ms. Spears will not end up as a Princess Diana tragedy.
One last bit about Heath Ledgers death that bothers me is that Brad Renfro passed on January 15 a mere seven days before yet he is never mentioned or at least not to the scale of Heath’s death coverage. Why is that? Are Brad’s acting accomplishments not that impressive in comparison or is it Mr. Renfro’s long list of troubling behavior that lead to his death being pushed aside. Brad Renfro was a twenty five year old man who grew up in Hollywood who for the last time was pushed aside by someone with a bigger name.
After note – A couple of days after I posted this the autopsy came back pointing towards an accidental heroin overdose as the cause of death for Brad Renfro.
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I too am sickened about how the media covers the lives of celebrities. I’m no fan of Britney Spears, but I just wanna scream “Leave her the hell alone!”…geez, the poor girl can’t even be hospitalized without microphones and cameras being shoved in her face when she got out. Anyway….Brad Renfro’s death received pretty high coverage here in East Tennessee as he was a native of Knoxville. Here’s an interesting article that ran recently: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/feb/17/some-celebrities-fall-into-cycle-of-destruction/
Brad Renfro almost disappeared around here once Heath Ledger passed away and the Britney Spears very public mental health breakdown still gets way too much attention. I agree with you that the media just needs to leave her alone and move on to someone else.
I am a psychiatrist at the priory in UK. I am convinced Heath Ledger committed suicide after developing paychotic depression. I think the trigger was his role as the joker in batman. He has never played a “bad guy” so to be true to the part he convinced himself he was , which through a complex series of conscious and unconscious processes led to a sense of self loathing which lead to depression and a need to rid the world of himself. All Im wondering is if his employers were liable for not picking up the signs of an evolving depressive illness ??