Yes, it was a very sad event. While I was never a fan of Winehouse, seeing any human slowly decay like she did is a terrible thing.

I doubt anyone was surprised by her death. This is what happens when you live as though you have no limits.

I hope Lohan is paying attention.

And when you realize you have a problem, don't try to slug it out on your own. There are people who are willing - glad, even - to help.

For being a nurse, you seem very callous with your reply, nurses safe lives (shouldn't your tag read 'nurses save lives'????) and hwilson. It is extremely expensive to detox in a program, ESPECIALLY when you have no health insurance. I have detoxed four times, once under medicated supervision (at my sisters house). When you don't have a job for a year and a half and no health insurance, detox programs are, for the most part, out of reach. I haven't ever declared bankruptcy and don't ever plan to but I have my share of debt I carry around based on a health care system who favors those who have health insurance. Sure, I get treated when things become so bad I feel I am going to lose my job if I withdrawal one more day in front of my coworkers, but to the tune of $700 additional debt per visit.

I continue to drink alcohol to feed my body just the minimum I feel is safe for me to go to my contract and perform my duties - to the best of my ability. I have suffered visible, audible and psychological symptoms of alcohol while at work and have found ways to self-medicate to alleviate as many of these symptoms as I can. Some alcoholics are alcoholics as a form of self-medication to take care of another more deeply rooted medical or psychological problem, as is my case. I went to a psychiatrist but abandoned him when I had only $32 of the $35 required to have a visit and they refused to accept this shortage of $3 and bill the rest - of the total $70 visit. I walked out and haven't returned to see him. BTW, his diagnosis, while it may have been corrected, was mis-treated to the point I could only work for one hour at work for a day after suffering several days living within my own skin due to the reaction from the meds he had prescribed. I left work after one hour the final day I took those pills, it got so bad.

I went to the hospital when my BP was 160/120 BEGGING for help from the withdrawal symptoms, help which I eventually received. Took some serious explanation of who I am and how aware of who I am I am. I make good money now but this has not been the case in recent memory. I don't have health insurance and cannot afford; 1. to take the days off necessary, out of the blue, to go into a detox program and 2. the additional burden on my already strained budget.

There are those of us who hate being addicted to alcohol, however, alcohol has the effect of shutting down thought processes which could drive a normal person insane. I drink to shut down my brain or to give myself some peace from constant self-reflection.

I admit I have several medical problems which conspire to make me who I am but I feel I am a good man, a descent person and as productive member of society as my afflictions allow me to be. The last thing I need is some nurse on their high horse, when I do arrive for help, who thinks they know more about me than I do, somebody who is overwhelmed (perhaps obsessed) with the input of living within their own body and listening to the aches, feeling the shakes, feeling the eyes burn, knowing their liver isn't doing well due to the color and smell of their own urine and realizing the whole house of cards could fall apart at any given moment because somebody at work recognizes what is going on with EMPLOYEE X and I get fired.

It's not as easy as you might think. I KNOW I need to detox. In light of not being able to justify the expenditure because my kids payment of child support is more important, knowing if I die, this ends as well - I challenge you to put yourself in my skin for about a month, think about the things I do and function as well as I do and TOP that with a comment like...

Best solution, don't drink.

Once your already drinking the problem becomes exponentially more difficult and stressful.

I am not looking for the easy way out and I don't WANT to drink anymore and there are some deep rooted psychological events which have predispositioned me to be where I am at today but I also believe I am a reasonable man who is not in any sort of denial. Society puts a tremendous amount of pressure on people to fit the status qua.

Sometimes, it's not that simple.

Aaron,

I am a nurse who is very experienced in working with alcohol withdrawal. The pain in your post is clear. You know you need help. You are afraid to seek help because you need your job to make your child support payments. A detox program is not the only way to sobriety. Have you tried AA? Any physician can prescribe medication that will help you thru withdrawal. No, it is not simple--it is hard, painful work. But you can do it.

Best solution - don't get sick so you don't have to be treated by a nurse who can't even spell

Best solution - don't seek treatment from a nurse who cannot comprehend the original question. Since the topic of the article is the dangers of withdrawal caused by stopping alcohol without proper supervision, "don't drink" is the problem in this case, not the solution

I suppose your best solution to birth defects - don't be born

UNCALLED FOR BERNIE!!!!

This headline isn't ridiculous at all, but the first sentence of your post is. For a nurse, you a extremely insensitive and quick to judge. It is probably safe to assume that the majority of educated people in this country don't realize that it is possible to die from alcohol withdrawal.

Arron,

I feel for you, Bro.

Please google "HAMS". Have you heard of HAMS? It is the Alcohol Harm Reduction Network and has saved my life from what you are going through. It is free, and all you need to do is just read it. You will be amazed, at least I was.

In my case, I could no longer afford ER visits to detox and learned that I could simply taper off instead. With a little discipline, It worked! I learned about why there are withdraw symptoms. I learned that I actually had several choices as to my life and alcohol.

You are still well enough to go to work and to write intelligently, so please read about HAMS.

Also, you should be taking lots of thiamin every day.

Hope this helps you.

"If so, why was she alone while detoxing?"

embarrassment is one possibility...

and since everything a celebrity does that anyone else witnesses nowadays is examined under a public microscope... she had even more reasons to try to do it alone... sad but true...

whoever decided that celebrities are far game in the press just because publicity also helps their career wasn't thinking very well...

@Peteroid: Amy Winehouse. Embarrassed. Seriously? (Yes, this is sarcasm speaking.) You obviously haven't seen or read a single article about her, neighbor.

No kidding. Not even a high school newspaper would allow a typo in the headline to be published. How unprofessional. Just shows how little goes into MSNBC journalism...

I didn't notice anyone sugar coating anything.

She was indeed a talent, reminded me of Janis Joplin, never expected her to die at the same age.

So many lives destroyed by drug and alcohol abuse.

If you decide to drink don't drink for the drunk, drink for the taste. If you don't like the taste don't drink.

There is no use for hard drugs, the odds are against you if you use them.

"And there is no such thing as beer that actually tastes good"

I and 6000 years of civilization, beg to differ.

Kaliber & St. Pauli N/A are quite decent. O'Douls and Sharps are modeled after their already tasteless counterparts (like Bud & Miller Lite) and thus have little flavor.

I suspect you've just been drinking the wrong stuff.

And by the way, I HAVE heard of beer flavored ice cream, candy AND snack chips. The ice cream is supposedly quite tasty. You're also forgetting Ginger ALE and Root BEER both of which brewed as they were originally are quite extraordinary and contain no alcohol.

By suggesting to the world that your daughter died of the opposite thing that common sense would say helped her kill herself.

Just no Facts

There are very good beers, and wines. Maybe no to you, but then maybe you don't like carrots, or peas.

Everyone has different taste buds.

If beer doesn't taste good to you don't drink it.

I haven't found a any NA beers that taste good, but I don't drink them.

I usually keep 2 or 3 different kinds of beers in the fridge a 6 pack may last me a week or three.

I buy craft beers, some aren't so good but many are really good. As far as I know there are no NA Beers in the Craft style.

Just

Sorry no, I couldn't. Too many loonies on the internet.

I'm sure if I could have seen your face, I might have laughed. Does that need to be rephrased? [;^)}

Just The Facts: Again, no idea what caused this rare talent's death. I simply want people to know that even a 27 yr old can die from ETOH withdrawal. As for suicide in jails--people (even people you may know and love) make stupid mistakes sometimes. And those people can be so ashamed that they would rather die than face the people they love. That is the face of many suicides in jails. And BTW I agree with you, there is no such thing as a beer that tastes good...

I like black coffee. No cream, no sugar, no flavoring. I think it tastes great. My brother accused me of lying about it, one time, and made the claim I just drink it black to prove I'm a tough guy. He said that nobody likes black coffee.

As a viner who has been suspended once or twice, I would suggest you tone it down a bit... The attacks on other viners are a violation of the CoH. You may not agree with them- but that's no reason to attack them.

Just trying to help you out. :-)

Reported.

Not true, Red Wolf. While dangerous, I have done it three times myself because I simply ran out of money. It is painful, the nightmares are horrible, you don't feel good and can barely walk or talk and I have nearly knocked myself out of bed from the muscle spasms but it IT possible to detox without supervision AND without medications....

Takes about three days, in my case, to get over the nasty stuff.

...having said this, I would NOT recommend doing what I described above. I knew the risks but there wasn't anything available, in my mind. Refer to my earlier post on this subject.

I appreciate your knowledge and appreciation of the subject matter.

WOW! U r very quick to judge others Skal1976. U don't know what her family did for her. U and I both know nothing about her except what was on the NEWS. She was an individual with a problem. A problem that was stronger than her. Noone has the right to put her down for that! Do ur friends come to u with their problems. I hope not if that is your reaction to a sickness.

Who cares how anything is spelt. It's the concern and the thought that counts. The world isn't perfect and neither r we.