What Aaron Carter’s Tragic Death Can Teach Us About Mental Health

By Jim WestPublished On: November 7th, 20221.8 min read

If you remember the song “I want candy” or the New Kids on the Block, you remember the pop singer and child star, Aaron Carter. We were sad to find out that he passed this weekend after suffering from addiction and mental health issues. Aaron revealed to fans that he was diagnosed with “multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety, and manic depression” on the TV program The Doctors. You don’t have to be a mental health expert to understand how serious that combination of issues must be. Addiction and substance abuse was a concern of his friends and family as they urged him to attend an inpatient rehab program in the weeks before his death.

Serious mental health issues aren’t isolated to the world of entertainment, everyone suffers from some level of mental health issues, diagnosable or not. Even still, we sometimes let our issues go untreated. According to a study done by the National Institute of Mental Health, “51 percent of adults in the U.S. with bipolar disorder and 40 percent with schizophrenia were untreated during a one-year study period.” The amount of progression a mental health issue of any kind can develop over a year without treatment is no joke. Aaron isn’t the only person who will lose their life because of a mental health issue, but his death can teach us something about the importance of making sure we and our loved ones are getting help when we need it.

So what can we do to prevent tragedies like this from happening? Mental health issues are as serious as any other diagnosis and in many cases, have more serious consequences when left untreated. Carter’s friends, family, and child are survived by him and we hope they are able to find hope and healing as they cope with the grief of losing a loved one. If you or a loved one are suffering from a mental health issue, don’t let anything prevent you from getting the care you need.

Our mental health counselors are available to help in person or online! Help is just a phone call away so call now for help 407-248-0030!

Jim West

Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

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Filed in: Addictions, adults, Depression, Grief, Multiple Personality Disorder

Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, masters level therapists, Español counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, business coaches, and image enhancement coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. TLC’s family, trauma and marriage experts have been interviewed on National and Local TV/Radio over 200 times for their expert advice on Fox News, OWN, WETV, ABC’s Medical Minute and more. Our skilled counselors are relational, approachable and specialists providing therapy services in the Central Florida area including: Orlando, Winter Park, MetroWest, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, East Orlando, Lake Mary, and Clermont, Boca Raton Florida, and Dallas, TX.