Steven Adler and Celebrity Rehab

I have been watching the program “Celebrity Rehab” on VH1 this season.  To be honest, I’m addicted to the show.  For those of you who are interested in psychology, addiction, celebrities, or reality television, I highly recommend the show.  It is on Thursdays at 10 pm ET on VH1, but also plays at other times through the week.

 

Steven Adler

There is one participant in particular who I like very much, and have since the first episode.  Steven Adler is the original drummer for Guns n Roses, back when they were a huge force in rock music, and was kicked out of the band for using too many drugs.  I’m not a huge Guns N Roses fan to the point that I know the band members by name (except of course for Axl Rose and Slash), but as a rock enthusiast I am very familiar with them, and they do have some very good music (at least their older stuff from back when Steven was in the band, I’m unfamiliar with their newer work).

 

The question which came to my mind was, how many drugs do you have to take, to get kicked out of Guns N Roses for taking too many?  I mean, all these guys were all using a LOT of drugs back then.  

I’m not sure why I like Steven Adler so much, except that he is childlike and does remind me of my son a little (long curly blonde hair, very playful personality).  The addictions specialist (Dr. Drew Pinsky) says that Steven is so childlike because he stopped maturing when he started using drugs, and never finished maturing because he never got sober.

And we’re talking about someone who admits to being sober for only two days since the age of eleven, if you can imagine that.  He’s now 43.  It’s amazing he’s still alive.  He even shoots heroin into his neck veins, which is something I had never even heard of anyone doing before.

Steven seems to have been trying to kill himself for many years, both subconsciously and consciously.  At one point he took 100 valiums, drank a large bottle of Jaegermeister, and shot up 3/4 gram of heroin.  He still didn’t die, but he did have a stroke.  It seems now mostly to affect his speech and some of his facial movements, though at the time he was told that he would never again use the left side of his body.

Yet he still didn’t get sober.

After he was signed up to do the “Celebrity Rehab” show, with only two weeks left before checking into rehab, his brother (who keeps an eye on him) called the doctor to Steven’s home.  Steven was acting in a psychotic manner, and he was actively suicidal to the point that he said that every day, all he wants to do is die.  It was incredibly sad.  Apparently what set him off was that he had talked to Slash, with whom he has been friends since they were about 13, and found out that Slash didn’t want him to play drums on his new solo CD.  Steven was crying, saying he wants his best friend Slash back.  Dr. Drew checked him into a locked psychiatric facility, just to keep him alive long enough to get him into rehab.  By the time he checked into rehab, he had already detoxed.  The person we saw prior to his hospitalization, who was shooting heroin and smoking crack (and who knows what else), and the person we see now, are two completely different people.  But they are both people in an unbelievable amount of pain.  

They’ve been delving into Steven’s childhood, and his relationship with his family, and especially his mother. 

He came home from school one day when he was eleven, and his belongings were out on the street, and the locks were changed.  His stepfather had said “it’s him or me”, and since the stepfather was supporting the family, Steven was out.  His mother and stepfather had a child of their own, and Steven was in the way.

There’s no way that doesn’t affect someone for life.  What a horrible thing to do to a child, no wonder he is so incredibly self-destructive.  I don’t care what the circumstances may be, you don’t put a child out of the house, especially in that manner or at that age.  Of course, after he became rich and famous, mommy dearest wanted to be his mother again, and he even ended up supporting her and his stepfather, despite what they had done to him.  

He is currently suing his mother, by the way.  Apparently she got control of all his money when he had the stroke 12 years ago, and he claims that she has stolen millions from him.  Given what else he has said about his mother, and given that public records clearly show that he has made zillions and still profits from Guns N Roses (for anyone not familiar with GnR, they sold many millions of records and easily sold out entire stadiums for years and years), I believe that could very well be true.  

I found this video outtake from the show, wherein Steven discusses his childhood and his mother.  What he describes from his childhood is a recipe for extremely self-destructive behavior.  Someone should knock his mother upside the head, what a self-absorbed bitch to do this to her son.  As a mother myself, I cannot even imagine doing what she did to her son.

(The video wouldn’t post here, as usual with non-youtube videos, so you can access it on my auxiliary blog; I suggest strongly that you let it start playing then pause it so it can load; otherwise, you will get a lot of stops and starts due to buffering.)