Adolescent’s Newest Addiction: Celebrity Worship
September 8th, 2008 |
By Sherry Gaba, LCSW
Click here to contact Sherry and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
A frantic mother of a 15 year old daughter of a local suburban neighborhood tells her therapist that her daughter has quit the cheerleading squad, no longer dreams of college and becoming a lawyer, and her childhood friends have been replaced with friends she has never met. Her daughter has been isolating, reading all the latest celebrity gossip magazines, and becoming more rebellious at home. Clearly her daughter is pulling away which can be one of the hallmarks of addiction, depression, or an adolescent trying to form an identity. When you think of addiction, you think of drugs, alcohol, or even an eating disorder. What about the newest addiction teenagers are being struck with called “Celebrity Addiction.” One third of Americans are being struck with this phenomenon which is linked to depression, anxiety, body-image problems, and addiction.
In no way is this author comparing the ravages of substance abuse to celebrity worship, but rather it looks at today’s teenagers with a different set of eyes. According to recent studies, many teenagers today believe that emulating the lifestyle of their favorite celebrity is one of the only ways to form an identity and if they don’t reach the same level of stardom, they will become “nobody.” There is a dramatic shift in the way teenagers perceive success. In fact, research reveal teenagers would rather surround themselves with celebrities or become one, rather than becoming a more intelligent human being. In addition, it is showing that having these fantasy relationships with a celebrity stimulates the production of opiods, chemicals in our brain, that make us feel better. It is no wonder we are raising a generation of adolescents, for example, who would rather become a famous actress like Paris Hilton rather than a presidential nominee like Hillary Clinton.
This type of value system was seen in the Grammy’s this year. You have to wonder what it means when musician Amy Whitehouse is singing “No, No, No” refusing to go to rehab to deal with a drug addiction becomes a huge Grammy winner. More recently she was in the news with reports she has the first stages of emphysema? What does this tell our teenagers? Teens are now not only mimicking the clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics celebrities use, but now see addiction as glamorous. Joanne Barron, National Outreach Director for Insight treatment center for adolescents says, “Unfortunately too often what we see or hear about celebrities has to do with a lifestyle of excess—smoking, drinking or drug use, constant parties and sexually acting out.”
This is not necessarily new in popular culture. Many musicians and actors have died tragic deaths from addiction and many more will die in the continuing drug epidemic. Musician, Janis Joplin, glamorized drugs in the 1960’s dying at 27 of a drug overdose. And what about Timothy Leary and his famous quote, “Turn on, Tune In, Drop out.” Last year we viewed a barrage of specials portraying the very disturbing life of Anna Nicole Smith. Her life was viewed more times than true news worthy stories.
Adolescence is often a time of soul searching and finding an identity. It can also be a very vulnerable and impressionable time. However, today’s identity formation has crossed the line. Teen idolization is even turning into a medical issue. Teens are undergoing surgery to have lips like Angelina Jolie and carving dimples in their chins to look like John Travolta. Has the media gone too far? “Whether we like it or not, celebrities are role models for teens. For many years we have seen the influence of pop culture on our youth. Ever since television and movies became main stream in America, teens have tried to emulate the speech, dress and behavior of their favorite celebrities,” says Barron.
Scientists have found a correlation with celebrity worship and depression and anxiety. Which comes first, the proverbial chicken or the egg or does it matter? Does depression lead to addiction or does addiction lead to depression. The bottom line is there has been an epidemic of teenagers that believe they are entitled to become famous and will become famous during the course of their lives. Teens believe becoming famous is a cure all for all of life’s challenges. Our society is in midst of raising a generation of narcissists whose only sense of self is around entitlement and becoming famous. Healthy relationships will be replaced with illusory celebrity relationships that lack intimacy and real connections to others and teens will continue to seek temporary relief from substance abuse and celebrity worship to ward off the pain that normal adolescence brings.
Of course, there are numerous causes of addiction such as trauma, a genetic predisposition, peer pressure, or a divorce or significant loss in a loved one’s family. One of the other difficulties many adolescents face today besides addiction is eating disorders. Television, Hollywood, magazines, and the internet portray slender women much more often than the majority of women with normal body types. They then develop distorted images of what a body should be based on by what the celebrities portray. “Once these idolized perceptions are accepted as truth, thought distortions may develop, which can lead adolescent girls into self destructive behaviors such as eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors, excessive exercising and other destructive behaviors,” reports Buck Runyan, the COO of the Center for Discovery, an eating disorder program.
How can we prevent our teens from idolizing these tragic figures of fantasy and deception? How can we reduce substance abuse and eating disorders amongst teens? Having self-esteem is one of the buzz words of this century. Lack of self-esteem can increase the odds that your teen will look for numbing out methods to suppress their discomfort, pain, frustration, and pain during this time. When a child is comfortable in their own skin, they can reach inward for well being and strength rather than becoming reliant on outside sources to dull their senses. Having an open dialogue with your teen without judgment or criticism, allows your teen to feel more comfortable sharing issues such as substance abuse, peer pressure, and sex with you. They will feel heard and understood which will allow them to trust you with their deepest demons. Otherwise, they look for validation somewhere else joining groups or gangs where drugs and alcohol is the norm.
Another solution to this growing epidemic might be getting to know our neighbors more closely to feel part of a community rather than having to look outside our neighborhoods for a sense of belonging. Creating deeper bonds within our own circles might alleviate the need to search outside for validation. If your teen does, however, show signs such as isolation, eating habit changes, depression, excessive sleep, or new acting out behavior, seek the professional help you need. This could be signs of an addiction or eating disorder and a professional can assess if there is truly a serious problem erupting. Celebrity addiction is not nearly as dangerous as a drug or alcohol addiction; however, it is another way your teen may be avoiding what is really going on in their life. Celebrity addiction can prevent or delay your teen from forming his or her own identity and instead emulate a false self of one of their favorite idols never developing a true core self. We all want to be loved for who we are and not by who we wish we could be.
©Copyright 2008 by Sherry Gaba, LCSW All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact Sherry and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
15 comments so far
This has really become a problem in our society today. Have any of you even attempted to take an adolescent girl shopping for school clothes these days? You cannot hardly find clothes in the size 7-12 range that does not scream young hooker! They are all modeled after celeb garb and that is what the young girls want to emulate. I just firmly tell my daughter no, that is not the message we want you to portray. She accepts that now at age 6 but what will happen when I lose some of that control. Quite honestly it does scare me.
Celebrity addiction with teenage boys is just as bad as it is with girls. When a parent walks in on his 16 yr old son dancing butt naked on a high, singing, “It’s my life, it’s now or never, ‘coz I aint gonna live forever…” what do you do? Do we tackle the kid or his idol who he talks to in his “highs” and lows. Can parents really be blamed for being not so cool with their kids. Who will shoulder the emotional and financial responsibility of getting a kid through rehab? Does the music industry have a censor board? Teen pregnancies are fashionable since Brittany spears’s kid sister made it so. Oh!! did I forget to mention shop lifting. Winona Rider should know the thrills of that one. Why blame the celebrities? Isn’t it just an excuse? No, it is not. A person with a public image should have a private life that people can look up to. Fame need not be based only on glamour but also on goodness.
Totally disagree. These people did not agree to be role models, they just wanted to be famous.
Yes but they are in the public eye and have to be responsible enough to know that what they say and do is bound to be emulated by youngsters. I think that one of the best things we can do for our children is to give them the self esteem that they need from a very young age to feel like they do not have to rush to copy what everyone else is doing just because it is perceived to be the cool thing to do. There are many other ways to be popular and make friends. Celebrity worship can ultimately be dangerous, from taking on their drinking and drug habits to trying to be like the stick thin models we see in magazines. There is a better life than all of that for our kids- let us all be responsible enough to give that to them!
This has been an eternal ping pong between generations. Parents in the 60’s found the Beatles outrageous when compared to Frank Sinatra. Is it really the celebrity image that affects our children or is it the fact that we never agree with them on their likes that antagonises them?
Great question and maybe it is a little bit of both. But I think the stars of today have much more access to our kids and we to them than we ever experienced growing up. Now we know all about personal lives, the good and the bad, and we almost feel like we know the celebs intimately. I do not think this is a good thing. I do not want others knowing all about my personal life and I am sure the rich and famous do not either. But it can portray a very negative role for our kids and they can in turn begin to emulate that same behavior that we as adults do not agree with or think is right. Perhaps we could limit some of this by limiting what our kids watch on TV and see on the internet?
Sometimes I am just so disgusted that everything we wear and the way that we feel we have to look is measured against these unrealistic expectations that hollywood and the beauty industry in general provide for us yet I still find myself trying to meet and even exceed these standards. I know that if I, an adult woman struggles with these things then it must be even harder for young girls to know where to go with these types of things. It is so foolish for us to get sucked in but we do when those are the images we are all constantly bombarded with. There has to be a movement soon to make all of this stop before even more of us are drawn into this unhealthy craze!
Maybe this is more about poor self esteem in the part of the general public. Perhaps we should work more on what is wrong with us rather than blaming others for our ills.
When a child gets a barbie doll as a present, she sees everything perfect and expects to be that way. That idea just gets bigger in dimension as she grows into adulthood. What is the point of gaining good looks that can be gone in a flash??
The same thing goes for guys too you know. We see the Brad Pitt’s on screen and most of us know that we can never live up to lookng like that. maybe the problem is not quite as prevalent among males as it is among females but it does exist and should not be overlooked.
It is easy for me to see how younger kids look up to celebrities as role models but it is not easy for me to understand why. Not that we need to be judging the lives of others but I think when you raise kids in a good, solid household they will take the lives of these famous people with a grain of salt. They will be able to look at those in the spotlight and perhaps admire the art that they produce, or what they call their music, but they will also easily see that how they live their lives is not necessarily what we should all be striving for. This is not true of every celebrity but for those out there who still want to be like Britney and Jamie Lynn, enough is enough! You need to give your kids at home the things they need to feel beautiful, valuable, and loved so they will not make some of the same mistakes these girls are doing in the limelight.
We all have to be nore responsible about the things we allow our children to be exposed to, period. When they have more role models on the glossy pages of magazines and look up to these people more than they do their own parents the there is a serious problem in society. I think that is the path that is being taken by so many.
I am absolutely amazed from all the responses I have gotten to my article. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog on something that is very important to me and obviously very important to you. Please continue to respond. I think this has been very helpful to all the viewers who are reading this blog. Thank you again and I look forward to writing more blogs and hearing from you…..Sherry Gaba, LCSW and Life Coach, sherry@sgabatherapy.com.
Let’s take a look around before we look over the fence. Most children pick up bad words, habits and prejudices from home. Sometimes the self-destructive behaviour that adults display makes kids look for solace and comfort anywhere and everywhere but home. Just about anyone is a friend except for the parents. Let’s check our parenting first before we fling dung at celebrities.
You right,when i heard addiction i think of drugs, alcohol, or even an eating disorder,and didn’t know about the newest addiction of teenagers called “Celebrity Addiction.And thank’s to your blog i learn a lot about the addiction. Keep up the good work.