New Interview/Solo Album

[jkmaletic]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

That's one of the cognitive errors addicts make, everything is either black or white. Klonopin is either good or bad, same with Atkins, etc... If she were in a program she probably wouldn't have suffered as long, the other addicts wouldn't have let her.

Uh-oh. I've been called a "black and white" person many times. I hope I'm not an addict too.
I've actually been working on trying to see more "gray" in things. It's a hard habit to break though. Interesting though that you say it's a cognative error that addicts make. Makes sense.

[SapphireSister]

Originally Posted by sarafield

Yeah, her refusal to take the blame for her addictions is really kind of ridiculous. She has said over and over that she knew she was fine with the cocaine problem, but "everyone around her" was so worried she'd go back to coke, she went on the Klonopin to appease them, apparently. Now, couldn't she have said no, I'm clean and sober now, and don't want to take a tranquilizer? When she had to increase her dosage, didn't *she* realize she had a problem? This is a woman who went to Betty Ford for cocaine and alcohol addiction (though she later changed the story to just cocaine addiction.) She'd been through the program and didn't recognize that taking another pill could cause her problems?

I see your point here but here but I have to come to her defense regarding the Klonopin after the cocaine - there are plenty of recovering drug addicts who are prescribed various types of legal meds after their addiction under the care of psychiatrists as part of a post treatment program, it's really not that uncommon. Being that she has an addictive personality to begin with her doctor should have been more responsible in monitoring her dosage. I mean seriously, who was giving her a prescription to take up to 15 of those a day? I don't think she is totally to blame here for listening to someone who was suppose to have her best interest at heart.

I'm surprised she hasn't said "No one told me overeating could make me gain weight!"

Ha ha that was cute .

Hmmm perhaps she is lacking a bit in the "taking responsibility" department. I never really thought of it that way...

[skcin]

Klonopin is not necassarily a terrible drug, I agree that she tends to generalize it. But many people do the same thing - you have a bad experience at a certain hospital, you tell everyone not to go there; you have an infection that's not cured by a certain antibiotic, you tell everyone that med doesn't work, etc.

I will say, somewhat in Stevie's defense, that after her known history with addiction, it was not wise to put her on ANY sort of controlled substance. There were other alternatives to narcotics, but who knows - maybe the doc DID try other meds first & Stevie wanted something different.

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

With that in mind I do think her heart is in the right place when she speaks out against it and if anything she's raising awareness as to the harm it can cause if not taken responsibly and there's something to be said for that.

I agree that her heart is in the right place. I really just find her comments a bit amusing more than anything. I don't think I've ever heard her take a tiny bit of personal responsibility when discussing the cocaine/Klonopin issue, but maybe it's out there in articles I haven't read.

Her words do have an impact, though. When I was prescribed a benzo to deal with anxiety coming off of my own addiction, the first drug they mentioned was Klonopin. I said "no way, my favorite singer got hooked on that and she became a zombie." To which my shrink asked who, I said Stevie, and she said "she was addicted to everything." (oh, and she told me her niece is named Rhiannon). She then proceeded to explain to me how you take the drug without becoming a zombie.

Clearly there was something wrong with Stevie's shrink, though, if she was prescribed buckets of the drug for six years. I just think at some point in those six years, Stevie would have been the one to notice she wasn't writing songs, had glassy eyes, and was fat and miserable....then done a little research on Klonopin and put 2 and 2 together.