Why Hollywood is Bad for Your Health

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Macaulay Culkin has been Hollywood’s most recent victim, but he is by no means the first. Hollywood seems to have devoured Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Brad Renfro, Corey Haim and Dana Plato to name but a few.

What causes such young actors to take their life in their own hands at such a young age?

Could it be that cast in stardom at such a young age, having money thrown at you left right and centre and far too much attention all at once have a price to pay later in life?

Drugs have always been centre stage in Hollywood and they seem to be glamorised. While I’m not saying all actors take them, I’m saying there is much temptation around for those who would like to try them. For actors who start abusing substances at such a young age and with money no object, would the fix to become higher and higher eventually become unmanageable?

Could it be that having enough money to buy everything you could possibly ever dream of has the adverse effect of life losing all meaning? It’s tricky to set yourself goals when you already have everything.

Is it that having your privacy stripped away, which makes even the most basic chores like going to the supermarket or petrol station become almost impossible? Does life get boring and endlessly monotonous with nothing but glitzy parties to look forward to?

People fawning over you because of your money rather than your personality?

Perhaps it is the roles that they play which leave some nasty blot on their consciousness for being an actor involves fully immersing yourself in your character and these aren’t always pleasant portrayals of human beings.

Maybe it’s the inattention between roles when they’re not in the limelight and not the centre of attention. When you’ve been in the spotlight for so long it has to be hard in the off periods which everyone will suffer at some stage.

There are so many ifs and buts and we will probably never know the real reasons – but Hollywood owes a debt to these young actors that are dying with increasing regularity on its doorstep. There should be more to help these young people who are catapaulted so far and so fast only to burn out so desperately soon.