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Chronwatch
Hunter S. Thompson and Mental Health
Written by George Thomas Clark
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Since Hunter Thompson put a gun in his mouth and shot himself
last week, I've been digging deep into the Internet and reading lots of
articles about him. The first wave of stories commended his hard-punching,
eye-gouging, "gonzo" style of insightful political writing in such books as
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Kingdom of Fear," and recalled with
wonderment and affection his manic consumption of alcohol, LSD, cocaine,
and enough other intoxicants to fill the Physician's Desk Reference. A
couple of days after the coroner came, many who'd known the man, or
witnessed one or more of his countless binges, began to somberly note that
he really had drunk, snorted, and dropped too many unforgiving things and
such behavior wasn't so amusing and admirable after all. But in none of the
articles I've found has anyone said, "Hey, Hunter should have gotten help."
That is amazing, and appallingly typical. If a guy gets a toothache he'll
dash to the dentist. A fever sends him scampering to the doctor. A rash
drives him scratching to the dermatologist. Heart, liver, kidney, and
stomach problems are also widely understood to require medical attention.
But what about the human brain? It is easily the most astonishing organ in
this solar system, yet it's usually considered a body part unworthy of
professional treatment. The essential problem is ignorance; most people
still view the brain as a primarily psychic phenomenon and assume that
common (even rampant) ailments like depression, alcoholism, drug addiction,
and excessive anger should either be ignored or treated with more alcohol
or cigarettes or, most admirably, by gnawing on the stick of righteous
stoicism.
None of those will work. People whose brains have sentenced them to
unrelenting depressive pain, generally because of an intrinsic chemical
imbalance, must be treated medically. A guy like Thompson, who drunkenly
barrels into public events, snorts coke in a thousand bathrooms, stands
barefoot in the snow shooting guns in the middle of the night, hordes
explosives, and repeatedly tells his wife that he's considering suicide, is
a guy who needs help. Perhaps his wife did suggest he see a psychiatrist.
She should have insisted. Instead, the Associated Press quotes her as
having threatened to leave him. His final act certainly wasn't her fault.
She couldn't have saved him. Only Thompson had a chance to do that.
When Thompson broke his leg in Hawaii last year, Sean Penn immediately
spent twenty-seven grand to fly him back to the writer's "fortified
compound" - the focal point of his isolation and paranoia - in Colorado.
That was a compassionate gesture by Penn but would have been far more
helpful had the jet been pointed toward a mental health facility. Thompson
would have bellowed upon arriving. He probably would have refused
treatment, claiming he didn't need it but the rest of the world did. He
was, however, decidedly capable of admitting some kinds of pain. He
acknowledged his hip hurt bad enough to be replaced, and underwent the
operation. So Hunter S. Thompson, a very tough guy, or at least a tough
talker, was willing to get the best treatment for his leg and his hip. But
like too many others in mental distress, he didn't understand his brain
also deserved the finest medical attention.
About the Writer: George Thomas Clark is the author of two books, Hitler
Here, a biographical novel, and Outliving Flynn, a short story collection.
Hitler Here will be published in India this year by Vasan
Publications/Mastermind Books and in the Czech Republic by Mlada Fronta.
The author's website is http://www.georgethomasclark.com/ .
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R. A. Hettinga