Week 2 Activity B-1: Research Assignment Paper Instructions and Model Papers Research Assignment Paper on Celebrity Accidental Overdoses (Required activity---10 points) Use complete sentences and do n

Accidental Overdose of Amy Winehouse Cara Beann

University of Texas at Permian Basin

Accidental Overdose of Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was a soulful blues singer who emoted anger and despair into her songs. Sadly, her music was reflective of her life. She established a reputation early in her career as being unreliable due to drug use or intoxication (Biography.com, 2017). Winehouse would show up late, stumble around the stage, slur her music, or forget parts of the song. She overdosed and recovered in 2007 after taking a potentially lethal combination of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and alcohol (Biography.com, 2017). Photos surfaced of her illicit activities and Winehouse confessed her drug use to the media. As a result, Winehouse was admitted to a rehabilitation facility (Biography.com, 2017). She even went on to write a song about her disinclination to attend a rehabilitation facility.

Although Amy Winhouse’s family was not reported to have a history of drug abuse or mental issues, Winehouse was subjected to risk factors that may have led to her abuse and eventual demise. For example, she was thrust into the limelight of the music industry which has a prolific drug use culture, at the early age of 16 years. She was hounded by the media. She began dating Blake Fielder-Civil, who was already into illicit drugs and the two of them began doing drugs together (Biography.com, 2017). The pair was arrested and spent the night jail in October of 2007 for marijuana possession (Biography.com, 2017). In an article provided by a reporter who spent time with Winehouse in her home, Winehouse lived in the waste of her previous parties with paraphernalia, empty bottles, and cigarette butts scattered everywhere (Hoffman, 2008). According to Bezane (2016), Winehouse suffered from Bipolar disorder and her consistent drug use made her prescription medication ineffective. Her extreme natural and drug- induced highs and lows plagued her and eventually led to her death from alcohol poisoning in 2011. When I heard about her death, I was not surprised. It was just a sad reminder

of how substance abuse can trigger a negative spiral of events. She joins the ranks of people with extreme talent gone before their time. As long as the culture of drugs permeates that industry, overdosing will sadly remain

Swann et al. (2004) reported that there is a correlation between bipolar disorder and substance abuse. Swann et al. provided information suggesting why someone suffering from bipolar disorder is more likely to abuse substances due to the impulsivity associated with bipolar disorder. Their male and female adult participants consisted of four groups: bipolar; bipolar substance abusers; non-bipolar; and non-bipolar substance abusers. They used a 30-item questionnaire to measure impulsivity called the BIS-11. They found no gender differences in their analyses. Those who were bipolar drug users scored higher in impulsivity compared to bipolar non drug users. However, the highest impulsivity was from drug abusers regardless of any additional diagnosis. Swann et al. concluded that the extent to which impulsivity is expressed may precede bipolar disorder symptoms as well as substance abuse. Thus, since impulsivity was shown to be a factor in both substance abusers and people with bipolar disorder, therapy may direct focus into programs that strengthen impulse control. Perhaps by providing people with the power to control their impulses, it will provide more self- efficacy and give them what they need to avoid or quit drugs.

References Biography.com. (2017). Amy Winehouse.

https://www.biography.com/people/amy-winehouse-244469 Bezane, C. (2016). Bipolar geniuses: Amy Winehouse.

http://www.conorbezane.com/thebipolaraddict/bipolar-geniuses-amy-winehouse/ Hoffman, C. (2008). My bizarre night in the disturbing world of Amy Winehouse.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1039732/My-bizarre-night- disturbing-world-Amy-Winehouse.html

Swann, A.C., Dougherty, D.M., Pazzaglia, P.J., Pham, M., & Moeller F.G. (2004). Impulsivity: A link between bipolar disorder and substance abuse. Bipolar Disorders, 6, 204-212. https://doi:10.1111/j.1399-5618.2004. 00110.x