Amy Winehouse may have brain damage


Amy Winehouse drinking on stage on 7/4/08. Credit: WENN

Not surprisingly, all of Amy Winehouse’s various medical issues are due to her severe drug addiction. While her family has openly acknowledged some of her overdoses, other hospitalizations have been blamed on vague things like issues allergic reactions and medications. Now one of Amy’s friends says she has brain damage that is so severe it’s brought on symptoms normally associated with schizophrenia.

[Amy had] such bad convulsions that they were “like a scene from The Exorcist”. And her body is so frail from drug use that doctors were scared she would break bones during a fit. A close pal of Amy’s laid bare the truth – warning medics said one more overdose will probably kill her. AMY’S first overdose in August last year was from cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, ketamine and crystal meth. She was advised to see a psychiatrist after displaying “multiple personality traits” that made her a suicide risk.

Her second overdose was in July – when she inhaled an “inhuman” amount of hash that left her vomiting uncontrollably and hallucinating. At the time devoted dad Mitch, 54, said it was a “bad reaction to her medication”. Medics are worried Amy’s brain was damaged by the cannabis overdose – she displayed symptoms normally associated with schizophrenia.

The pal yesterday said: “The future is bleak, bleak, bleak… She had smoked an inhuman amount of hash which resulted in acute cannabis poisoning. You have to take a s***load of pot to suffer that severe a reaction… Amy’s fits were as bad as the convulsions she had during her overdose in August last year. No one has mentioned her meth use before – but that stuff is truly nasty… She is in need of years of psychiatry and medical treatment if she has a hope.”

[From the Sun]

It’s not exactly surprising to hear that Amy is suffering severe physiological and psychological repercussions from such extensive drug use. I had a friend in high school that started out using pot and quickly moved on to harder drugs. Two years later he was in a mental hospital after suffering a severe acid trip and nearly dying. And he was truly the nicest, sweetest kid, and a good example of how addiction can be a struggle no matter your background.

Amy’s case is obviously super serious, and in a way it’s made worse by her financial independence. Most addicts would be struggling to support their addiction and stay afloat financially, but Amy has a while to go before she’ll be in that place. It makes it a lot easier to ignore everyone around you when you think you don’t need them. Unfortunately I don’t see any reason to think her behavior will change, and her friend is probably right about her next overdose.

Here’s Winehouse drinking on stage in July.

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34 Responses to “Amy Winehouse may have brain damage”

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  1. drm says:

    May have brain damage????

  2. saintdevil says:

    Her brain is probably on permanent vacation by now.

    That said, I think Amy is actually setting a good (or rather bad) example for kids.
    I can’t imagine anyone saying: Yay! Gimme some crack & meth, I want to be just as gorgeous and mentally stable as Amy Winehouse!

  3. Starla says:

    And this is news how??

  4. JaundiceMachine says:

    Starla – it’s news because no one in the history of the world has ever overdosed on weed before! My girl’s gonna be in Guinness! If anyone can die of an overdose from the sweet, sweet sensimilla, it’s my bitch Amy!

  5. Crux the Magic Dragon says:

    She’s going to wind up like Brian Wilson, brilliant, but neurologically damaged from all the drugs.

  6. Bodhi says:

    😆 JaundiceMac!

  7. Victoria says:

    SAINTDEVIL….. I posted on her the other day, that the news media had already written her Obituary. They were just waiting to fill in dates. How sad it has come to this…. Another Belushi.. Anna Nicole…Corbain..( spell right ?)…. Her family does not even see the problem, just what Amy tells them. She needs a major intervention of the worse kind, I wrote. Of course it may be too late. She checks out of rehab the minute she checks in. Amy is one of those who needs to stay in for a year. Amy being a ” trainwreck ” is laughable now. That trainwreck is rusted over and incapable of doing anything on its own but rotting. Pity!!

  8. Hollz says:

    COBAIN, dear COBAIN…didn’t you post the same post on a different thread?

  9. paris herpes says:

    Her brain checked out a long time ago. I had no idea you could even OD on hash or pot. I figured you’d smoke so much you’d pass out eventually, but hallucinate…hmmm…I don’t think that’s quite true…! Sounds like it was a combination of drugs like the 1st OD.

  10. Dalyance says:

    Victoria – every person who is a “name,” political, entertainment, etc., has an obit on hold – updated regularly – so that when the time comes, all that has to be filled in is the when, where and final details. It’s not to be morbid, it just saves time.

  11. enchantress says:

    Don’t know anything about the laws governing involuntary mental hospital commitment in Britain, but how is it that Amy has not been considered incapacitated enough to require conservatorship?
    I wonder if BLAAAAAKE has the legal standing as her husband to block this – you can be sure that he doesn’t want his gravy train to end. 👿

  12. BB says:

    This is indeed a shock!

    What next? Britney to become a Nun?

  13. Ron says:

    No way! How can such a clean living young lady have such a problem! I am shocked to my very foundation!

  14. chaz says:

    that’s funny, every time i see pictures of amy i think… i bet she smells like FLOWERS! but then i’m reminded of the time i had to deliver a fax to her hotel room and saw dozens of room service trays piled up on each other with tons of uneaten food on them. she’d order a steak and just use it for an ash tray.. it was hilarious! some people just need crack and diet coke to survive … and i guess, cigarettes… oh yeah, and lots of booze too! but certainly not food, especially not $40.00 steaks! 😆

  15. Orangejulius says:

    Sounds like the end is nearer. Short of a miracle, that is.

  16. Penni says:

    Unbelievable how someone with such talent, can just waist her life on drugs, she is on a self destuctive path, that won’t end until she overdoses and kills herself, i am beyond feeling pity for her!

  17. jacqueline says:

    It’s a “lifestyle” problem in essence. Radical changes are required to “kick” life-threatening habits such as Amy’s. But I can’t see how she can remove herself from these temptations whilst in the music industry and having loadsa money.
    As Victoria says- she checks outta rehab as soon as she’s entered it.
    I’ve read that one sort of rehab keeps you asleep during the worse part of withdrawal, but I don’t see any true desire to reform in Amy yet.
    It’s so so awful to see such brilliant artists dice with death like Amy does.
    Sometimes I think that maybe many humans just cannot cope with ‘boredom’ and/or the unexciting hours / days of living.

  18. Whitey Fisk says:

    Just a note about pot…a study done by the US Government in 2001 showed there has never been a single incident of death in the United States caused directly by marijuana. If you’re a nerd like me and want to read the report, I’ll post it.

    I actually don’t smoke pot, but it always bothers me to see people thrown in jail for it. Seems like booze is a much more dangerous (but legal) vice.

  19. gg says:

    Yeah, the descriptions of seizure and overdose and dying from smoking hash?? Nah, not possible. You’d fall asleep long before that happened. And crave cheesecake. 😮

  20. Susan says:

    I always could tell she was on meth. She is so skinny. You do NOT get that way from using cocaine, alcohol, etc. Only meth addicts look like she does.

    The brain of a meth user is almost identical to that of a schizophrenic.

  21. duda says:

    rest in peace Amy

  22. czarina says:

    I doubt it was just pot or hash alone that caused such medical trauma (even in such huge amounts). But combined with other drugs, anything can be deadly.
    The human body is both incredibly tough and very fragile. Obviously Amy’s (up to now) has been handling her self-abuse (by which I mean it is not shutting down or leaving her unable to fuction), whereas, if you think of Heath Ledger using the wrong combination of perscription drugs and that was it.
    (I can’t recall exactly, but I thought at the time it was said that the amounts of the various drugs weren’t high enough alone to cause death, but they did altogether.)
    How old is Amy? Early 20’s, right? The worst part about that age is that death doesn’t seem real–there is a part of you that is convinced you will live forever.

  23. vdantev says:

    Meth will do that for you.

  24. duda says:

    they need to put her before and after pic up like they do on the meth face website…

  25. eatavag says:

    just so everyone knows, it’s not possible to be “poisoned” by something that is not toxic… like weed. you can overdose on just about anything (including water), but poisoning is different. unless the hash had something else in it, my guess is opium. 😯

  26. Strawberry In Disguise says:

    Crack and coke are just two of the drugs that destroy her life.
    What about her parents? Them living in denial is not helping Amy at all.
    Admitting that she has a seeeerious drug problem would out them as bad parents, is it that’s what they are thinking? Hmm….:roll:

  27. giavanni says:

    she is in a dark place right now! any one who had been there before knows whats its like! ( myself included) its very hard for someone to understand whats its like if u have never been in that place ! it just kinda creeps up on u out of no where and catches u in a dark place that i very hard to escape! i love amy winehouse’s music and i think this is a pefect example of pepole who can have everything and and be soo totally lonly and lost in this world! its so much easier for people to pass judgement on her and call her a crackhead and all those terrible names but in reality we are the ones who need to help her even if she didnt want it! so instead if writing her death certi.i think someone should 302 her and put her in the hospital!

  28. JoGirl says:

    Yeah, it’s impossible that her symptoms were brought on by cannabis. Like “eat” said above, cannabis poisoning doesn’t exist.

    In fact, if Amy Winehouse really did suffer brain damage from using cannabis, she’d make history because up to now, there have been no reported deaths or permanent injuries sustained as a result of a marijuana overdose, ever.

    Regardless, girlfriend needs to clean herself up or she’s gonna die real soon!

  29. Crux the Magic Dragon says:

    giavanni, it’s not that people are ‘passing judgment’, it’s people stating facts. Amy Winehouse is getting sicker and sicker because she refuses to ‘stop partying’. She’s going to wind up like Brian Wilson. He still has neurological damage, but the man is blessed enough to keep making great music. Hopefully, Amy will get to that point.

    Personally, right now….. I think she’s in some sort of drug rehabilitation program. All that singing about ‘ain’t goin’ to rehab’, is now hubris. If being out of the public eye was up to the record company, we’d see pics of her running around like a crazed college kid on Spring Break.

  30. ff says:

    Before or after she started taking drugs? That is the question. Could go either way.

    This woman wants her tragic ending – and she’s determined to get it. Let her have it I say, there are people out there that actually *want* to help themselves. The fact of the matter is you can’t help her if she doesn’t want help for herself. The End.

    Time to move on.

  31. Jeanne says:

    I don’t think it’s possible or believable to od on hash/pot unless she liked to get wet (dusted with PCP) Of course using recreational drugs of all kinds and washing them down with liberal amounts of booze hasn’t helped her brain either.

  32. Trashaddict says:

    First posting was the best: MAY have brain damage??!!
    ROTFL

  33. Vega says:

    You cannot overdose on cannabis. End of story. (http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm) Thanks for circulating accurate scientific info. If you can find me some weed that will make me speak latin and my head spin around, I’ll smoke everyone on this blog out until we all die.