Is Hollywood A Barometer For The Health Of The Nation?

March 20, 2008 - PRLog -- (OAK RIDGE, NJ)—With Hollywood stars turning to drugs and alcohol in what seem to be all-time record numbers, we have to wonder: Are these American idols a reflection of society as a whole?

“People are impressionable,” says Stephen Della Valle, author of the new addiction and recovery memoir Rising Above the Influence. “Especially teenagers and young adults. When many of us see our favorite actors or musicians partying every night, we think that it’s alright for us to do it, too.”

These days, it’s common to open up a magazine and read about which celebrity was arrested for DUI, which one was picked up for possession, and who is entering rehab for the fourth time. But even harsh images such as these seem candy-coated by the Hollywood PR machine.

“Stars can buy their way out of trouble or get their ‘people’ to spin it in their favor,” says Mr. Della Valle, who spent over twenty years battling drug and alcohol problems and is all too familiar with the realities of addiction. “They seem to pay no real consequences and make ordinary people think that they won’t have to, either. The ‘partying celebrity’ image really undermines the very real substance abuse problem that plagues millions of people in the US today.”

The line-up of celebrities who’ve been busted for drugs and alcohol—and gotten away with little more than a slap on the wrist—is long, and features such famous faces as:

·        Lindsay Lohan: spent an hour and a half in jail for DUI

·        Nicole Richie: put in a whopping eighty-four minutes of jail time for driving under the influence of marijuana and Vicodin

·        Michelle Rodriguez: a repeat offender, she served eighteen days of a 180-day sentence for violating her probation in a drunk driving case

·        Mel Gibson: his 2006 DUI bust—and his sexist and anti-Semitic tirade against his arresting officers—was swept under the rug with a public apology and a short stint in rehab.

Mr. Della Valle is no stranger to the consequences of addiction. After decades of drug use and alcoholism, he finally made his way into a recovery program that succeeded in helping him overcome his addiction issues—but it took losing his job, his family and himself to get him there.

“Hollywood dysfunction is scarier than ever these days,” notes Mr. Della Valle. “I just hope that people can exercise some common sense and see that what happens in Hollywood doesn’t always have a whole lot to do with real life.”

Stephen Della Valle is president of the board of directors at Turning Point rehabilitation center in Verona, New Jersey. Currently celebrating twenty years of sobriety, he lives in Oak Ridge, New Jersey, with his wife, Donna. He has three children.

Rising Above the Influence is available now (ISBN: 0-9801776-0-X; softcover; Oak Ridge Press) on Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and at fine bookstores everywhere.