Apologies if these questions are offensive to anyone. I'm not faulting him for being an addict, if indeed he was one, and I'm not convinced he was, but if he was..fine. But if he was, he seemed to have the biggest support system available to anybody, and it seemed they all looked the other way. Unless in the end, there was nothing they could really do. I just wonder what safeguards were built in to his daily regimen while on tour.
Knowing a lot of people who have gone mainly from complications caused by Alcohol addiction, the bolded sums it up.
There is only so much a person can do, even having a good support system or safeguards is not enough. In the end, it's up to the person how much they want to get better. No one can force a person to do that.
It's also no one's fault, not the people that were his support nor himself. That's how powerful addiction is and it's something that is a personal battle.
I don't have any personal history with it, but I seem to recall that addicts are often pretty good at hiding it from family and friends, even the ones closest to them, so it is very possible that his close friends and family didn't know he was still taking as much as he was. For all we know, he was staying sober most of the time on the road, but when he'd be back in his hotel room at night alone, he would hit it hard and wake up the next day and no one was the wiser.
Also this.
Addicts will not want to worry their families or those they care about, so they'll go to the lengths to hide that fact. My brothers sister-in-law is someone who did that very thing. She said she was sober, but she passed away of a heart attack in the shower, they later found out she had alcohol in her system, which she said she was sober. She played off the smell, and hid it well from her spouse.
All the information that was released now makes this situation unfortunate and I have sympathy for his family and those close to him. It sucks knowing that you possibly could've done something more to help a person get better. But, I have learned that as a person, there's only so much you can do to help someone. An addict is also a human, a human that can think for themselves, no one can change that fact. You can give them all the resources they need to get themselves better, but they themselves have to have that will to pursue and utilize them.
At the end of this battle, it's up to the persons own will and strength to fight it. It's one battle that is fought alone. The one thing you can do best as a person is be there when they fall, be there for them as much as you can, and be understanding. Temptations are out there as well, and if a person does not have a strong will in the presence of those easily accessible temptations, it will get to them where they will say..."Hmm, just one wouldn't hurt." and that "one more" will end up being their last.