Looking back at superstar Michael Jackson's mental state
Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 02:08PM As millions of mourners lament the death of superstar MichaelJackson, the question has been pondered about the beleaguered yet also beloved pop icon.“What was his state of mind?” is the issue being asked on many media and in many minds.
No doubt he couldn’t sleep, as evidenced by revelations about the serious psychiatric prescription medications he had or sought. A sure sign of depression. Sure, he was on the road to a comeback, but that amounts to serious pressure for someone already under strain.
While one cannot sayJacksonwas suicidal now, he certainly has been in such a fragile mental state before. In that regard, I went into my files to see what I wrote years ago about MichaelJackson’s mental state history.
On March 21, 2005 I submitted this article about the emotional dangers facing MichaelJacksonin the midst of his trial about sexual abuse charges. While he emerged from one case paying monetary damages, and the other acquitted, and over four years have elapsed, the scars of such an ordeal can last. And while he unmasked his children to reveal their faces to the world – perhaps symbolic of his own facing reality -- fantasy and hiding from oneself and others can still remain.
