Michael Jackson gets his memorial - but nothing to recognize his mental illness

"Your daddy was not strange," Al Sharpton told Michael Jackson's children. "The way people dealt with him was strange."

Michael Jackson got his memorial today. Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Usher, John Mayer, Lionel Richie and Motown founder Berry Gordy were all there. Some sang; others talked. All paid tribute to the man who, to quote David Bowie, sold the world.

Tucked in the middle of the tributes and in the news articles on the memorial, however, were some poignant words that explained the real tragedy here. Perhaps Al Sharptons words, as glorifying as they were, came the closest, and exposed the elephant in the room.

We've heard dropped hints of anorexia, obsessive compulsive disorder, arrested development and even "Body Dysmorphic Disorder," a severe distortion in how one views his or her body. Michael Jackson was a star, a controversial one. But he was symptomatic of mental illness, and his death is more of a symbol of failure and ignorance than hope and promise. The failure to address the "Wacko Jacko" stigma that he carried for so long was, perhaps, the biggest tragedy here.

His fans, instead, gave Michael just what he always wanted, glorifying and deifying an obviously deluded an flawed individual. They talked about how he changed music, which he did. They talked about how he sold more albums than anybody, which he did. They talked about he was as big or bigger than Elvis, which was debatable.

It's certainly reasonable to say that he was the biggest star of the past 30 years, one who united the races for a time before his behavior became, to many, reckless, erratic and intolerable.

These stars, however, reminded us only of the Jackson from the 1970s and 1980s, the child prodigy who became a megastar, because that's what people close to Michael Jackson do. They did and do everything he wanted.

But they weren't the only ones talking. There were the older people from the age of Elvis, and before, who just didn't get what Jackson once met to people.

I read in Time magazine that those from the so-called Generation X, the post-baby boomers like myself who were born in the age of Vietnam and Watergate, most likely remember the first time they heard "Beat It." I was a Led Zeppelin and Clash fan, but I actually can remember -- I remember hearing the song on rock radio, and feeling stunned that Michael Jackson was invading my radio space. Few born before 1960 can relate to that.

There were people who seem to always misunderstand the words of our founding fathers, that all people are innocent until proven guilty. Rep. Peter King of New York used You Tube as a platform for calling him a pervert. Others ripped Los Angeles for spending money on a memorial for an entertainer when the state of California is in the midst of its worst fiscal crisis.

Many of the critics, however, made solid points. Why was this man getting a funeral worthy of a president? We can pay tribute to the music, but can we pay tribute to the man?

The ones who should speak the loudest are the mental health advocates who have been challenging the politicians and the public to better understand mental illness and its potential effects. In terms of effects, Michael Jackson was an incubator for them.

In that sense, he wasn't so much a legend like Elvis. He was Howard Hughes, self-destructive and self-medicating, and he'll be among the many celebrities who became lasting symbols of those with mental illness left untreated.

Maybe the answer is to not try to glorify or demonize. Perhaps the answer is to learn and understand.

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Mental health care independence

Every time I hear any mention of health care, I recoil in horror.

The old conservative feelings in me come out, and I wonder if this is just another blown kiss to industries that support political causes.

I think about the 2000 presidential campaign, when Al Gore talked about health insurance as a "right," not a privilege, and how he wanted to put the nation's security in a "lock box."

Every time he said it, his face contorted in such a phony way that, well, it's no wonder Darrell Hammond from Saturday Night Live did more to destroy his campaign than Al Gore himself. He was such an easy target for imitation.

In this case, imitation was the most sincere form of abuse, not flattery.

On Independence Day, however, I'm not thinking about politicians and promises and tax increases. I think of those who are too dependent on others to stand on their own.

I think of people with mental illness, the people who can't find the same access to medication as Michael Jackson.

If government is going to do anything, maybe the politicians need to only think of the people who are too brain sick to make independent decisions. They're too ill to understand the importance of holding down a job, and get the kind of therapy they need.

When we think of those who died for freedom, perhaps we should consider that they died so everybody could be free to make their own choices to protect their health.

Another king gone

I've been getting requests for other Neil Young songs that speak to the death of Michael Jackson. Perhaps no one speaks better than this one:

In the end, the only one who could help Michael Jackson was Michael Jackson

"To you, Michael is an icon," ... "To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts...."

These were Janet Jackson's words, spoken this past weekend at the BET awards. Well-timed as they were, they were also about saving face in the wake of tragedy.

But actions speak louder the words. Did anyone ever act to save Michael Jackson?

A family with a boatload of money couldn't rehabilitate a man who was 50 years old, weighed 112 pounds and, according to reports, had nothing but undigested pills in his stomach when he was found dead?

If he did have anorexia, as his symptoms suggested, then Michael Jackson may have lived the same destiny that has doomed millions of others with mental illness. He was helplessly helpless, and he ultimately endured the same kind of existence as that of a homeless person who self medicates away their personal demons.

The only differences between Michael Jackson and the man on the street, frankly, is money, and access.

Like a homeless person, he ultimately confronted a society and a system that does more to enable, and less to assist those who can't come to grips with their own fragility.

Indeed, media reports say that, yes, the family did act. Fox News reported that exactly the same scenario almost played out in 2004 in Jackson's rented mansion. Jackson’s brother Randy found him unconscious in his home and immediately called a paramedic friend who lived very close by and who rushed to the house.

Fox News also reported that Jackson’s family started having premonitions of his premature death in 2001 around the time of his New York "30th Anniversary" concert series and were forced to intervene. A family meeting was held and, basically, Jackson was begged to seek help. His mother started asking a lot of questions about how Elvis Presley died.

But Jackson ultimately went his merry way, because that's what many people with severe mental illness do. He further destroyed his reputation, bankrupted his finances and ruined his credibility. He seemed to further isolate himself, and when he did show his face in public, he created embarrassing tabloid fodder that inspired the "Wacko Jacko" headlines.

He was like many of the lost souls I've seen, and interviewed, on the streets of New York City and Philadelphia, each of them with family members who show up every now and then to show they care. They give them money, they talk to them and they shake their hands. But the family gets ignored, and the money gets spent on booze and heroin.

Jackson didn't need his family's money. He had his own, and he had his drugs. Injecting Demerol into yourself, frankly, is like shooting legalized heroin and having the insurance companies pay for it. If the media reports are true, then Jackson was basically a legal junkie with health coverage.

Now the focus and the blame has shifted to his doctor, Conrad Murray. References to Elvis abound: Did the doctor enable him by prescribing the medications that may very well have killed him? Why wasn't he stopped?

Or maybe Jackson was, in the words of David Crosby, too far gone. Instead of blaming the doctor, maybe we need to look at ourselves, and how society treats mental illness. Maybe we need to look at how society creates Michael Jacksons, Elvis Presleys and Marilyn Monroes, only to watch their fragile statues crumble.

In the end, Jackson was helpless to the point of being hopeless. Not a doctor or a psychiatrist in the world could have transformed a man who had nothing left to give.

Neil Young/Helpless

There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.

Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby can you hear me now?
The chains are locked
and tied across the door,
Baby, sing with me somehow.

Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless.

Michael Jackson and his missed dual-diagnosis

It's amazing that everybody in my family - except for my 3-year-old daughter - knows who Michael Jackson was. He didn't have a hit for nearly two decades, but they know his music, his persona and his fame.

But they don't remember him for bringing a sort of Beatlemania that transcended racial and ethnic boundaries in the early 1980s. They remember him for being the man who displayed what many have called "bizarre" behavior, the falling star who inspired the "Wacko Jacko" headlines that the tabloids loved.

They don't remember the "Man in the Mirror." They remember the man with mental illness. And now, as this tidbit from The New York Daily News seems to suggest, we discover this was not necessarily a case of a missed diagnosis:

While Jackson family insiders suggested prescription drug abuse - specifically Demerol - might have caused the 50-year-old superstar's heart to stop, Elias said it will be several weeks before toxicology results are ready.

What we likely have here is a case of a missed "dual-diagnosis." This was a man who lived out his mental pain in public. But, as millions of people do when they deal with either a diagnosed or an undiagnosed mental illness, they self-medicate the pain away.

We'll find out more when the autopsy reports are released. But we can look at his history - particularly his recent history - and see that the notion of this being a missed dual-diagnosis is not far-fetched.

In fact, it's downright logical.

I listened to his attorney talk on CNN last night about how he felt that Michael Jackson was a dying man four years ago.

As he suffered through accusations of pedophilia, Jackson broke down in his attorney's presence. He patted Jackson on his back, and all he felt were bones.

Perhaps this was a case of anorexia - and one of the leading causes of anorexic-related deaths is a heart attack. Jackson did look frail and sickly for many years, but the shrinking waistline - outside of his morphing facial features - was the most unpleasant sight of all.

But the lawyer thought that the mental deterioration was even more pronounced than the physical issue. It's almost as if he, and others who knew him, were not surprised by this, and they wouldn't be surprised, either, if drugs contributed.

When you live a life of pain and obsession, and you're haunted by a history of being abused, a shot of Demerol is - for many - their only friend.

Michael Jackson is dead, and now - just maybe - we'll understand why

“A lot will be said about Michael Jackson as we learn more about this story,” Brian Williams said on the “NBC Nightly News.”

“He was incredibly talented, a child star who was an adult with deep troubles and physical and mental health issues.”

Those were the words that needed to be said a long time ago. Michael Jackson was mentally ill. And now he's dead.

But his personal demons brought him down more than the paparazzi ever did. His obsessions impacted him more than being spoiled, and his quirky behavior brought more shame than fame.

The spoiling, the media - those were merely the triggers. The public? They merely watched this spectacle of a life deteriorate from impossible levels of stardom to disgrace.

The spectacle will play out some more in the days ahead. But maybe we'll learn something from this, too. We'll learn that the seemingly inhuman is very human. We'll learn that the spoiled rich could also be troubled souls.

We'll learn that mental illness isn't a lifestyle choice. It's an illness, and everyone is suceptible.

I've never seen anyone in my lifetime achieve the kind of fame he had. It was like living in Beatlemania, even if it was an abbreviated version.

I was never a big fan of his music, but I do own "Thriller." Listening to it today, it seems outdated. But the genius of the pop craftsmanship will live forever. Pop songs just maybe the hardest songs to write.

Sometimes, it takes someone with an obsessive level of drive to make it happen. Look beyond the plastic surgery disasters, and give Michael Jackson his due.

WikiAnswers - Did Michael Jackson have a mental illness

WikiAnswers - Did Michael Jackson have a mental illness

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