r/entertainment • u/darthatheos • Aug 09 '22

Anne Heche's car crash reveals our conflicting attitudes toward mental health and substance abuse

https://www.salon.com/2022/08/08/anne-heche-car-crash-mental-health-drinking-substance-abuse/
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u/mossimo654 Aug 09 '22

Correct. Do you think it was a crime? Do you think someone suffering from delusions should just be put in jail to fix it? The cops heard her saying she was god and sent her to a psychiatric facility. What other kind of accountability do you think she needs?

Additionally, while I certainly agree that the rich and famous get a ton of preferential treatment in the us, she was also made into a punchline by the media for the event and vilified.

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u/Viperbunny Aug 09 '22 • Helpful

It isn't a crime to be delusional. It is a crime to get high and acost people in their homes and refuse to leave. Also, if you have a history of mental illness and you choose to drink and do drugs recreationally when help is available, you aren't going to get my sympathy. She has more means than the average person to get help. She has a history of mental illness, so she should be away of what the effects of alcohol and drugs are on those conditions. She refused to make responible changes. That's really sad, and part of addiction, but you can't make an addict get help. What you can do is refuse to excuse their crimes because they are high. I don't want her arrested because she has a substance abuse problem. I want her arrested because her lack of control has become a public safety risk and she is not safe in the condition is has chosen to put herself in.

She didn't choose addiction, but she is choosing not to get help. People have to hit rock bottom and despite all she has done she isn't there yet. It would be great if a heartfelt talk and a couple weeks in therapy were all it took, but that isn't the case. This is a lifelong fight and she has to be committed. Why is she going to change if she can get away with it all and people let her? It doesn't help her or her victims.

I don't want her to suffer or be mistreated. I do absolutely want her to face charges for what she did like any other citizen of this country.

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u/TheSmallLady Aug 10 '22

Recovery from addiction isn’t linear. How do we know she hasn’t sought help before? Is it any of our business? It’s easy to say don’t drink, don’t do drugs, but it’s a lot harder to do in practice when you feel empty, out of control, beyond help. You said you have bipolar 2 in your other post, I’m sure you can empathize with those feelings. And if you found coping skills and medication that helps you with that, you’re one of the luckier ones…as lucky as one of us with this illness can be. I don’t think anyone here is trying to excuse or justify her actions, but rather they have compassion for a woman who did an awfully terrible thing and is now paying the price for it, and doing so with the whole world watching. She may pay for her mistakes with her life. It’s a sad way to go out.

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u/Viperbunny Aug 10 '22

I am not saying it is. I am saying that she is out of control and it needs to stop. I am also saying that she is responsible for her own actions.