Aaron Carter Found Dead: A Mental Illness Tragedy

It’s unfair to lump the triple-platinum, former world-touring Aaron Carter off-handedly into the category of musicians found dead due to simple drug overdoses. Although, as is usually the case in these instances, most of the media has. The differences separating Carter from the choir of lost artist’s voices are as unique and complex as one song is to another. Fame and fortune—even early childhood fame, in the case of Carter—are not prerequisites for addiction and premature death.

Mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, however, have a deadly track record of steering people regardless of their level of fame to self-medicate. Dealt a bad hand, Aaron Carter struggled with both mental illness and addiction. And fame. Add in troubled relationships with his brother and Backstreet Boy idol, Nick, and his sister, Leslie, also diagnosed as bipolar and whom he accused of sexual abuse when off of her meds, and Aaron becomes much more than a poster child for shallow accusations of “superstar’s life ends badly.”

Given Carter’s afflictions, it’s likely he would’ve suffered in life had fame and notoriety never existed, as do millions of average people with mental ailments do every day. And if we are to make the man a poster child for something, it’s this: Debilitating mental illnesses are rampant in all levels of society. It is sad that even at the higher rings of the social ladder where cries for help have a better chance of being heard, we—society at large—fail at proscribing the necessary support.

To Aaron Carter’s credit, he bravely did seek rehab and counseling multiple times, as well as parenting classes in the months before his pre-mature death. Hopefully his voluntary treatment inspires others. It’s only tragic, however, that his 9-month-old son, Prince, will never know his father, never know the real, non-aired struggle he endured.

Image courtesy of social media