Answer Addiction

Tag: Instagram

  • Prince Harry, Ed Sheeran Team Up To Bring Awareness To Gingers, er, Mental Health

    Prince Harry, Ed Sheeran Team Up To Bring Awareness To Gingers, er, Mental Health

    Their mental health awareness video starts with a gag—Sheeran “mistakenly” believing their team-up was to bring ginger awareness.

    Prince Harry and musician Ed Sheeran teamed up to bring awareness to Mental Health Day, October 10, taking a moment to run a gag about their shared hair color. On a video shared to both of their Instagram accounts, Sheeran seems to have “mistaken” the purpose of their get-together.

    “Really excited today,” Sheeran says in what looks like a behind-the-scenes interview. “I’m gonna go and, uh, film a thing with Prince Harry. (He) contacted me about doing a charity video with him, which is gonna be good. I’ve long admired him from afar.”

    A Great Misunderstanding

    Prince Harry pushes along the misunderstanding with ambiguous comments.

    “This, for me, is a subject and a conversation that’s just not talked about enough,” said Prince Harry. “I mean, people all over the world are really suffering.”

    The two then start to write a song, but soon their misunderstanding becomes evident.

    “People just don’t understand what it’s like for people like us,” Sheeran says in the video. “The jokes and the snide comments, and I just feel like it’s time we stood up and said, ‘We’re not going to take this anymore. We’re ginger, and we’re going to fight.’”

    Prince Harry then tries to set the record straight.

    World Mental Health Day

    “Um, OK,” he says to Sheeran. “Slightly awkward. This might have been maybe a miscommunication, but this is about World Mental Health Day.”

    Sheeran tries to play it off.

    “Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course. No, no. I definitely knew that,” he says, deleting the phrase “GINGERS UNITE” from the document draft on his laptop.

    The pair get back on message after the gag, encouraging everyone to be aware of those around them who might be struggling with mental health issues.

    “Guys, this World Mental Health Day, reach out, make sure that your friends, strangers, look out for anybody that might be suffering in silence,” Prince Harry tells viewers with Sheeran sitting by his side. “We’re all in this together.”

    Prince Harry has been an advocate for mental health, struggling himself as he grappled with the sudden death of his mother, Princess Diana, as a child.

    “My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help?” he told The Telegraph in a 2017 interview. “It’s only going to make you sad; it’s not going to bring her back. So, from an emotional side, I was like ‘Right, don’t ever let your emotions be part of anything.’ So, I was a typical sort of 20, 25, 28-year-old running around going ‘Life is great’, or ‘Life is fine’ and that was exactly it.”

    Recently, Prince Harry has set his sights on the popular video game Fortnite, which he blasts as addictive and irresponsible.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Instagram Co-Launches Mental Health Awareness Campaign

    Instagram Co-Launches Mental Health Awareness Campaign

    The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Instagram have partnered up to start #RealConvos about mental health.

    A new public awareness campaign is working to shed light on the conversation about mental health. 

    According to the Washington Post, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Instagram have teamed up for the campaign in hopes that it will lead to more conversation around the topic. 

    The idea is that Instagram users will tag content with #RealConvo when a post discusses mental health. 

    As a kickoff to the campaign, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Instagram account featured what they called a “grid takeover” in which the organization shared video stories of nine individuals who spoke candidly about mental health and the importance of sharing one’s struggles on social media (in addition to victories).  

    Some well-known names participated in the campaign, including Pretty Little Liars actress Sasha Pieterse.

    “I think a lot of people are scared of the term mental health,” Pieterse wrote in one post. “Why is it so taboo to talk about? We as a society seem to be way too concerned about what people think. We are all guilty of it. We are all guilty of comparing ourselves to others, feeling like we aren’t valuable, like we don’t deserve or aren’t worthy of the things we hope for in life.”

    Pieterse also touched on the campaign specifically, pointing others to use the hashtag and encouraging them to learn more about the efforts. 

    “Everybody should be doing their best to keep their mental health in check, and that means we should be having #realconvo’s about the way we feel and why,” she added. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to be raw. That’s where we find the diamonds within us.”

    Even if someone is not comfortable sharing their own story, others tagging posts allows them to search the hashtag as well and realize they are not the only ones struggling.  

    According to the Washington Post, searching #RealConvo “reveals graphics, photos and personal stories aimed to inspire, reduce stigma, reframe how people think of mental health, and help people get help if they need it. Candid personal stories give difficult ­issues—such as anxiety, self-criticism, grief and post-traumatic stress disorder—faces and names.”

    As always, social media is not a replacement for real help. If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text TALK to 741741 to the Crisis Text Line.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jessie J Cries In Emotional Video About Depression, Vulnerability

    Jessie J Cries In Emotional Video About Depression, Vulnerability

    The singer said that she hopes her emotional outpouring helps others find motivation to acknowledge their feelings. 

    Singer Jessie J became teary in an emotional Instagram video that showed her working out her feelings at the piano during an “off day.”

    The video was posted on Sunday (Feb. 24). In a lengthy caption, the “Nobody’s Perfect” singer explained why she shared her vulnerable moment on social media. 

    “I’m not posting this for sympathy. Im posting this for anyone who needs to see it (I needed it),” she wrote. “This video is from yesterday I woke up. Feeling kinda off. I sat at the piano (which I’ve been avoiding) knowing it will bring some stuff up. I’m making it up and feeling my real feelings.”

    Jessie said she went live to share the moment, not knowing that she would end up crying.  

    “But it’s important to be open that we are not always done up and feeling 100. All of us have our days. Yesterday was one of my weird emotional days,” she wrote.

    Jessie said that she hopes other people will find motivation to acknowledge their feelings. 

    “In a time and a world (especially the social world) where sadly vulnerability is often seen as weakness where the younger generation are almost being taught to hide their real feelings behind a perfected edited image. Hence why anxiety and depression in kids is through the roof and only carries to their adult life if it doesn’t change.”

    She pointed to the high suicide rate, particularly among young men, and seemed to say that expressing emotion is one way to combat it. 

    “We push our feelings to the bottom of our energy and hope it goes away. It won’t. Don’t define yourself on it. But stand with it, process it and learn from it. Find YOUR happiness. No one can make you happy but you. People can contribute. But ultimate happiness comes from within. It’s a personal journey,” she said. 

    She called on people to find a way to cope with their emotions—through exercise, creativity or anything else that works. 

    “To anyone young or older. Let your sadness / pain / Greif [sic] out. In your OWN way. Ever noticed so many people apologise as soon as they start to cry these days? Like it’s an inconvenience to FEEL. Draw. Sing. Paint. Walk. Write. Drive. Work out. Be still. Whatever it is that let’s you understand and process your real emotions do it.”

    Most importantly, people should reach out for help when they need to, she said. 

    “TALK to people you love when you are down. Please do not suffer in silence. Life is way too short and ALWAYS GETS BETTER. I’m thinking of you and sending love to your heart.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kevin Zegers Defends Decision To Tell His Young Kids About Alcoholism

    Kevin Zegers Defends Decision To Tell His Young Kids About Alcoholism

    After posting a video where his three-year-old twins call him an alcoholic, Kevin Zegers later explained his decision to inform them about his condition.

    Kevin Zegers won praise for his response to online uproar about a post on his Instagram page in which his young children described their father as an “alcoholic.” Zegers, 34, an award-winning actor whose credits include Transamerica, Fear the Walking Dead and most recently, Dirty John, is currently in recovery for alcohol dependency, which in his response, he described as “part of his life.”

    He defended his decision to inform his children about his condition as an effort teach the girls “some empathy and understanding about addiction,” and chose to share the video as a means of “crack[ing] the window open so others can see what’s possible on the other side.”

    In the video, posted on January 22, 2019, Zegers’ wife, talent agent Jamie Feld, is heard asking the couple’s twin three-year-old daughters, “What is Daddy?” Both answer, “An alcoholic.” She then asks them where Zegers is at that moment, and then tells them that he is at an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. Zegers himself added the caption, “Learning ’em young. #aameeting.”  

    While response from some of Zegers’ followers was positive, others considered the couple’s transparency as giving the children information that may beyond their understanding.

    On January 23, 2019, Zegers himself posted a response to the latter followers, which began simply with “Being in recovery is a part of my life. Being an ‘alcoholic” doesn’t mean that I drink.”

    Zegers went on to explain that his decision to inform his daughters about his condition was inspired by their own questions about where he was at their bedtime. “Instead of lying to them, or projecting an archaic stigma, we choose to tell them the truth. ‘Daddy’s at a meeting,’” he wrote.

    In addition to imparting “empathy and understanding” about addiction on his children, Zegers also hoped that they would come to understand that inspite of his dependency, he has “chosen to live a clean and sober life that involves much more than drinking” for the past eight years.

    He also noted that his decision to make the video public was an attempt to directly address people like those who posted negative or questioning comments, whom he described as “want[ing] to share people with addiction and mental health issues back into the shadows. My choice is to crack the window open so others can see what’s possible on the other side.”

    Zegers has been frank about his alcohol dependency in the past. In a 2013 interview for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Zegers said that while he never drank while working on a film or television show, he did find that his career had leveled off after the critical success of Transamerica in 2006 because he either refused or “messed up, either intentionally or unintentionally” film projects that followed because of his struggles with alcohol. “But once I actually got sober, things started falling back into the order they were before,” he noted.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ellie Goulding Talks "Miserable" Exercise Addiction

    Ellie Goulding Talks "Miserable" Exercise Addiction

    The pop star touched on exercise addiction in a recent Instagram post.

    Singer Ellie Goulding addressed her experience with dependency on exercise, which she described as “not worth it.” 

    In a recent Instagram post, the Grammy-nominated singer shared a photo of herself, which was accompanied by text that in part read, “Ah good #memories of being addicted to the gym. Not worth it . . .” 

    Goulding, who has also struggled with panic attacks, said that while she continues to maintain an exercise regimen, she approaches it in an entirely different manner that encompasses boxing. 

    Goulding, whose most recent solo recording was the Top 20 UK single “Still Falling for You,” clarified what she meant about her previous exercise routine by adding, “It was just kind of miserable.” 

    According to a study by Northwestern University, approximately 3% of people who exercise on a regular basis have a dependency on exercise, which can be defined by physical or psychological symptoms like depression, anger or confusion brought on by missing a single day of exercise.

    In coverage of Goulding’s post Bustle cited Heather Hausenblas, a professor at Jacksonville University’s department of kinesiology, who noted that regular or even advanced levels of exercise don’t indicate an addiction to exercise.

    Rather, it’s the feelings that arise as a result of breaking the routine and the drive for people to change their lives in order to work out and quash those feelings that qualifies as a dependency.

    Goulding has mentioned that in the past, intense emotions have driven her to seek solace in music. “It was the ultimate companion – the strongest remedy for any kind of pain or sadness,” she said. “Often it was the only way I’d be able to say what I wanted to say or describe how I was feeling.”

    Exercise also became a means of contending with difficult emotions, including anxiety and panic attacks. But after a period of intensity – “I used to be harder on myself,” she told The CUT in 2018 – she has become better educated on healthy practices and feels “more confident than ever now, which is an amazing feeling.”

    “To work out is being respectful to your body,” noted Goulding. “It’s a way of paying back and saying thank you for keeping me alive and for giving me such an amazing opportunity to live and breathe.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Josh Brolin Shares Drunk Photo To Celebrate Sobriety

    Josh Brolin Shares Drunk Photo To Celebrate Sobriety

    The Avengers actor described a harrowing, alcohol-fueled night on Instagram to celebrate a major sober milestone.

    Actor Josh Brolin, who has starred in movies ranging from The Goonies to No Country for Old Men to Deadpool 2, took to Instagram this week to celebrate five years of sobriety in an unusual way: sharing a photo from a drunk night out. 

    Brolin posted the photo, along with a lengthy caption. 

    “Drunk: when you think you’re having a rip roaring time and the next morning you wake up and your brain has broken into a frenzied beehive and your body is shattered shards of sharp glass desperately searching for what fits where and your spirit is being eaten by worms with great white bloodied teeth and your heart has shriveled into a black prune churning your intestines to the point where dysentery feels attractive,” he wrote.

    Brolin continued, “And you can’t remember anything you did so you roll out of bed over last night’s urine and you dial your best friend’s phone number because you recall him lifting you over his head, your whole self, before you hit and broke through the drywall and, you think, a large aquarium and the phone on the other end rings and he picks it up, that clambering for a phone, the clumsiness of a hardline, and you say: ‘What did I do last night?!’ and he answers, after a great pause: ‘…Dude…’. #5years.” 

    Brolin quit drinking and smoking five years ago. He had just had enough, he told The New York Times last summer. 

    “There’s something that happens to me when I drink that all moral code disappears,” he said. “So it’s like if I were to take that drink . . . after about halfway through, I would start thinking about jumping out that window . . . not to kill myself, but just because there must be somebody down there to catch me, and I wonder if I can pull it off or if I could land on that van. It just seemed like fun.”

    Despite the fact that he is more in control now that he is sober, he still tries to channel some of the spontaneity and levity that drinking brought to him, he said. 

    “I want to live more drunk. I want to live drunkenly. I just don’t want to take the drink.”

    Brolin told the Times that in recovery he’s also trying to overcome the codependent patterns in his love life. His past relationships, he said, had an unhealthy focus, which he described: “I’m going to find out all your needs and all your insecurities, and all that, and then I’m going to play on that. Like, you need a daddy? I’ll be your daddy. I’ll be your hero.”

    His dynamic with his current wife, Kathryn, is much healthier, he said. 

    “She doesn’t need me. She never needed me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jenna Jameson Celebrates Three Years of Sobriety

    Jenna Jameson Celebrates Three Years of Sobriety

    “Today is an important day for me in my recovery. 3 years. I can’t begin to explain what sobriety has brought to my life. But I will try.”

    Former adult film star Jenna Jameson took to Instagram this week to celebrate three years of living sober.  

    “Today is an important day for me in my recovery. 3 years. I can’t begin to explain what sobriety has brought to my life. But I will try,” Jameson wrote in an Instagram post. “Yes, I’m not the intensely self centered ‘the world owes me something’ woman anymore. I am now the ‘What can I do for the world’ woman.”

    Jameson hasn’t spoken extensively about her addiction, but there are reports that she was abusing alcohol and prescription pills. Her post was tagged #aa and #na, and she has suggested that she used 12-step fellowships to help her stay sober. Along the way, the 44-year-old said that she discovered new things about herself. 

    “Sobriety has taught me a lot about myself, my coping mechanisms that I ignored came bubbling to the surface quickly after getting sober,” she wrote. “That scared me. Everything I knew was wrong. Everything I believed in was hurting me, not helping. Meetings and leaning on my Sober friends… made things bearable the first year. I was surviving. Sober. It was shocking at first, but now it’s my new normal.”

    Now, she recognizes that her substance abuse was an attempt to fill a void. “I think back to the way I used to run… run as far and as fast as I could, and I pray to God I never feel that emptiness again,” she wrote.

    In April 2017, Jameson gave birth to a daughter and struggled afterward with her weight. Now, she has dropped from 187 pounds to 130, a journey she has celebrated on social media.

    “My weightloss has solidified my toughness and strength,” she wrote. “I know I am capable of beautiful things and these are the qualities I want to teach my daughter. No matter what life throws at you, you can overcome and flourish. 3 years. 3 whole years. I am grateful. Just for today.”

    Previously, Jameson worried that she couldn’t maintain weight loss while sober. 

    “I was worried I couldn’t lose the weight sober,” she wrote earlier this year. “I’m being real with you. When I was in my addiction it was easy to stay thin. Sobriety and being overweight was new to me. I kept telling myself if I could beat addiction and stay sober, I can easily lose the weight… and I did. The healthy way.” 

    Both weight loss and recovery have shown her how to tap into her inner strength, she said. 

    “And as of today I can say my mental game is STRONG,” she wrote on Instagram. “I feel I can do anything, I conquered abuse, addiction, PTSD and depression.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Heather Locklear Addresses Addiction On Instagram

    Heather Locklear Addresses Addiction On Instagram

    “Addiction is ferocious and will try to take you down. Recovery is the best revenge.”

    Heather Locklear, the TV star best known for role on Melrose Place has had a difficult year. She’s been making headlines for her struggles with addiction and mental health, including several trips to treatment. Locklear is also currently facing a hearing on September 27 on charges of battery on a police officer and an EMT who were called to her home.

    Recently, the actress took to Instagram to address addiction and recovery. Locklear had taken a step back from social media for several months before coming back in August, and several postings have touched on her recent troubles, with hopes for a better tomorrow.

    On September 19, she posted, “Addiction is ferocious and will try to take you down. Recovery is the best revenge. Be kind to everyone you meet, your light just might change their path.”

    She ended her post saying, “Rest in peace beautiful Josh. You touched my [heart emoji].” (It’s currently unclear who Josh is, but reports claim he was a friend of Locklear’s who lost his own battle with addiction.)

    In another, she left a message that read,  “Love yourself…enough to take the actions required for your happiness…enough to cut yourself loose from the drama-filled past…enough to set a high standard for relationships…enough to feed your mind and body in a healthy manner…enough to forgive yourself…enough to move on.”

    In another post, Locklear shared a photo of the Maria Shriver book, I’ve Been Thinking…Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life.

    In June, Locklear was arrested on two counts of battery on emergency personnel who were called to her home, with Sgt. Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department telling CNN she was “extremely intoxicated and very uncooperative” at the time of her arrest.

    After her arrest, Locklear reportedly checked into rehab for the second time this year. 

    She has reportedly gone to rehab seven times, first checking into a facility in Arizona for anxiety and depression in 2008.

    She was later arrested the same year for suspicion of driving under the influence of prescription meds (the charges were later dismissed.) Locklear also reportedly did a one-month rehab stay in March 2017.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Dealers Remain An Issue On Instagram Despite Crackdown Efforts

    Dealers Remain An Issue On Instagram Despite Crackdown Efforts

    The company is now working to make treatment options more readily visible as well with their new “Can we help?” pop-up.

    After repeatedly fielding allegations that their platforms helped fuel the opioid crisis, Facebook and Instagram are now taking extra steps to combat social media drug-selling and help divert users into treatment. 

    Last month Facebook announced plans to redirect drug-seeking social media users to a help box offering support suggestions and, months after blocking targeted hashtags, Instagram recently decided to take a similar approach. 

    “As part of Instagram’s commitment to be the kindest, safest social network, we’re launching a new pop-up within the app that offers to connect people with information about free and confidential treatment options, as well as information about substance use, prevention and recovery,” a spokesperson for the photo-sharing platform told TechCrunch in a statement.

    Social media community guidelines generally ban selling drugs online, but dealers have brazenly skirted those guidelines and the law, listing their goods online with relevant hashtags to attract would-be buyers.

    The growing trend sparked condemnation from Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb earlier this year. 

    “Internet firms simply aren’t taking practical steps to find and remove these illegal opioid listings,” Gottlieb said in a speech at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in April, according to Engadget. “There’s ample evidence of narcotics being advertised and sold online. I know that internet firms are reluctant to cross a threshold, where they could find themselves taking on a broader policing role. But these are insidious threats being propagated on these web platforms.”

    Instagram initially responded by shutting down potentially problematic search phrases like #fentanyl and #oxycontin—but dealers just shifted to unblocked hashtags instead.

    Then in August, Facebook took action by adding a “Can we help?” pop-up offering links for treatment referrals to anyone searching certain drug-related phrases like “buy OxyContin” or “buy Xanax.” At the same time, the company blocked words like “OxyContin” and “Xanax” from turning up any search results for Pages and Groups. (However, it’s still possible to find profile accounts with drugs included in the user name—such as the many users who simply list “Oxy Contin” as their names.) 

    Then in recent weeks, Instagram reevaluated its blocking-only approach.

    “Blocking hashtags has its drawbacks,” Instagram told TechCrunch. “In some cases, we are removing the communities of support that help people struggling with opioid or substance misuse.” 

    Although those blocked hashtags will stay blocked, now the company is working to make treatment options more readily visible as well with their new “Can we help?” pop-up.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Singer JoJo On Mental Health: I Named My Depression Burlinda

    Singer JoJo On Mental Health: I Named My Depression Burlinda

    In a recent Instagram post, the pop star described the self-destructive habits that fueled her depression and anxiety.

    Depression and anxiety affects millions of Americans—and celebrities are not immune. Recently Noah Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Emma Stone were among a slew of young artists who’ve been public about their inner struggles.

    Now, singer JoJo (born Joanna Levesque) expanded on her experience with depression—which she nicknamed “Burlinda”—in a recent Instagram post.

    In the caption accompanying a candid photo of herself, the “Too Little Too Late” singer announced that she will log off of Instagram “for the week to see how it impacts my mental/emotional state.”

    “There’s no peace inside the anxious mind. Sporadically, for years, depression and anxiety have convinced me I’m unworthy of love, patience, (real) self-care, and forgiveness. Made me question if I’m ‘good enough’ to do anything consistently. Made it hard to follow through and to have healthy long-lasting romantic relationships without sabotaging them,” the 27-year-old singer wrote.

    Levesque described the self-destructive habits that fueled her depression/void, named Burlinda. “In so many ways I’ve invited [Burlinda] to stick around… feeding her instantly gratifying treats that keep her growing… late night food binges, mind-altering substances, gossip, sex, comparing my life to what I see my peers doing on social media, etc.”

    JoJo’s next steps include “changing habits that no longer serve me, reclaiming my time, re-evaluating the relationships in my life.”

    “I love to sing and perform more than anything I’ve ever loved and I’ve always wanted to be the soundtrack to your lives,” she wrote. “But sometimes I feel paralyzed. Time for a reset. I deserve me at my best. So do you.”

    In past interviews, JoJo addressed her parents’ history of alcoholism and addiction, as well as her own struggles with drinking.

    “(My 2015 single) ‘Save My Soul’ is a song about addiction, and I grew up seeing addiction very close to me: Both my parents have struggled with it. So as a kid, you don’t kinda know when the bottom is going to fall through or what’s gonna happen next,” she said.

    The song is “about feeling powerless, and I’ve struggled with addiction in different forms, whether it’s addiction to love, to a person who’s not good for you, to food, to negative feelings,” she said.

    She, too, has been down dark paths. “I’ve definitely abused alcohol; I’ve been depressed. You can just kind of go down a black hole and find yourself addicted to almost anything,” she said.

    “For a while, I coped by drinking too much. I wanted to get out of my mind. I wanted to stop picking myself apart. I just wanted to feel good, to chase that high. I wanted to stop worrying about my career.”

    View the original article at thefix.com