Heath & Britney: Why mental health is no laughing matter

Yes, I’m devoting a sermon blog post to discuss Heath Ledger and Britney Spears. Please allow me a moment to get all high-and-mighty as I'm reeling from the news of Heath Ledger’s passing.

The news yesterday that Ledger had died of an apparent suicide made my heart sink (as of this writing the cause of death is inconclusive, but it appears that this is the case). I find it tragic when people die under any circumstances, but suicides make it doubly so. Mental health is a grossly undervalued aspect of personal health and very few resources are devoted to helping people cope with problems such as depression and anxiety.

With Ledger’s passing, I’m reminded of Britney Spears’s situation and what appears to be her inexorable path to oblivion.

And how nobody cares.

Actually, I take that back: we care about Britney insofar as we need to take a piss on people who are more popular and successful than we are. It makes us feel better to see others fail. We need our daily dose of schadenfreude--and who better to laugh at than Britney Spears.

Tee-hee, silly, Britney. Oops! Looks like she did it again!

Well, we aren’t laughing this morning upon hearing about Ledger’s death. Suicides happen. And it might happen to Britney unless she gets some help.

Her hair-shaving episode was indication that she's likely having suicidal ideations. There have even been rumors about attempts; her irrational behavior is no secret. It appears that she’s manic-depressive and could probably use some medication and some real therapy outside of Dr. Phil and the celebrity circle. She needs to go away for a while and get better.

It also appears that Britney is incapable of getting help for herself and that her sycophants aren’t likely to intervene in a way that’s required. It’s sad that the system isn’t set up so that a person could be flagged and offered help. I’m not even sure what to suggest in this case…

But what’s certainly not helping is the endless barrage of media parodies and the collective snickering that’s going around. We wouldn’t laugh and make fun of someone with cancer or diabetes. This is no different. We all need to adopt a much better attitude about mental health and stop treating it like some kind of stigma.

As we think of Heath Ledger today, let’s hope that Britney gets the help she needs to avoid a similar fate.