Michael Jackson: The Superstar and The Vulnerable Human Being

Michael Jackson: The Superstar and The Vulnerable Human Being
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A few years ago during his trial for child molestation, I was asked by several national radio stations to comment on Michael Jackson's psychiatric status due to my work in the area of body image distortion, eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders. Right after several interviews were set up however, Mr. Jackson was acquitted and the interviews cancelled. Suddenly he was yesterday's news.

Sadly now, he is yesterday's and today's news. The world is mourning the loss of an enormous talent. The images are all around. The face he had altered over and over. While we mourn the dancer, singer and musician it is clear that he was deeply troubled. That there was an almost never ending quest to alter his appearance. While many people can related to spending some means or time trying to alter or improve their appearance all in the quest to "feel good about themselves", it all becomes a matter of degree. We can only imagine the anguish that propelled Mr. Jackson to go under the knife and return for more and more alteration, in the quest for something.

Always in mourning, the tendency is to return to the better memories. We want to remember the talent, the cherubic face. We want to shy away from the child molestation charges, the distorted face. The reason I feel compelled to write this however, is to bridge that gap. To bring together the talent and the human being. The human who suffered from a belief that there was something profoundly wrong with his appearance, that he had to go to such extreme lengths to alter it.

"The essential feature of Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a preoccupation with a defect in appearance. The defect is either imagined, or, if a slight physical anomaly is present, the individual's concern is markedly excessive. ....Most individuals with this disorder experience marked distress over their supposed deformity.... Most find their preoccupations difficult to control and they may make little or no attempt to resist them." (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Fourth Edition, Text Revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000., Washington, DC)

We are saddened that we will not be able to know what Michael Jackson could do after his absence from the stage these last few years. We have lost a true talent. Perhaps now however, Michael Jackson can rest.

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