
By Staff Writer
In recent years, tabloids have been filled with accounts of the addiction and mental health issues that many young singers and actresses are facing in Hollywood. These girls often face the same pressures as normal teens their age, but with the added spotlight of fame.
Former teen star Patty Duke recently came forward to reach out to young Hollywood starlets such as Lindsey Lohan and Demi Lovato, PopEater reports.
"Be quiet and let the girl figure it out. These are people, these young girls," she told PopEater.
During the 1960s, Duke was known for her Oscar-winning performance in The Miracle Worker, and a lead role on a television show. However, after her image-altering role in the 1967 cult classic Valley of the Dolls, her bizarre behavior, partying and high-profile romances sold millions of tabloids.
She eventually gained control of the bipolar disorder that lay at the root of her troubles, and with therapy, found some healing for the agonized childhood that she wrote about in her best-selling memoir entitled Call Me Anna.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that mental health problems, including depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal and other psychosocial dysfunctions, are frequently linked to substance abuse among adolescents.