Today, we’ll be talking about another famous person who has battled drugs. Luckily, while this story is sad, it doesn’t have the tragic ending that so many of these stories seem to have.
Irish singer and songwriter Sinead O’Connor rose to prominence in the early 1990s with songs like “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” She also gained notoriety when she tore a picture of Pope John Paul II during an appearance on the television series Saturday Night Live.
O’Connor has attracted attention ever since, as discussions about her mental health and personal life seem to be more prominent than talk about her music. This pattern seems to be holding. In 2016, O’Connor announced that she attended rehab for marijuana use and that she also moved to a facility that supported sober living.
In O’Connor’s words, she sought such help because she was a “weed head” for three decades. She was especially happy that her sober house provided a support system for her, because she said that she had never experienced such support before.
Her statements are startling. O’Connor is someone with professional success and worldwide fame. She has children and presumably others in her life that might support her. Yet, for whatever reason, she felt that the people in her life haven’t supported her through her struggles.
It seems that O’Connor found a support system in her sober living facility. She posted on Facebook that she was “proud of self,” although her struggle “wasn’t easy.”
O’Connor’s experiences illustrate how strong support systems can make such a difference in our recoveries. Substance use disorder doesn’t just affect the abusers, but the people around them. It stands to reason, then, that other people can help substance use disorderrs recover. What we do can affect other people so much. Supporting each other, through recoveries and other journeys, can help us all so much.
