| There is a great debate going on in Hollywood and | | | | path of alcohol and drug abuse since the age of 13. |
| everywhere else U.S.A. Celebrities are being | | | | When coming clean - it is very possible that Richie |
| scrutinized more than ever. Make that female | | | | began an extremely disciplined exercise and diet |
| celebrities:) And in this ever growing fish bowl is the | | | | regime to reclaim her health and control her life. And |
| new celebrity target - Nicole Richie. | | | | then went - overboard. |
| In every celebrity magazine, every week, is a picture | | | | Many times people who suffer from an addiction of |
| of Richie - looking quite thin - and bouncing about | | | | some kind - alcohol, drugs, overeating, gambling etc., |
| town in a new designer outfit and handbag that | | | | will substitute that vice for another intense activity, |
| seems to be a bit bigger than she is:) | | | | addiction, or obsession. That is why it is not |
| It was even rumored that her dramatic weight loss | | | | recommended for people who are in a 12-step |
| and refusal to get help for it was the source of the | | | | program to begin dating each other. Instead of |
| tragic:) break-up between her and her longtime friend | | | | dealing with themselves, they just substitute the |
| Paris HIlton. | | | | energy spent on getting drunk or high on the new |
| But to be fair - Nicole Richie has seriously | | | | relationship. Then the relationship becomes too |
| transformed her life. She is the adopted daughter of | | | | intense, too fast, and fizzles out quickly because |
| a very public and tumultuous divorced couple - Lionel | | | | there was no real foundation. |
| and Brenda Richie. Probably the initial source of many | | | | Nicole Richie may have simply substituted years of |
| of her emotional troubles. | | | | addiction with the compulsion to control her life and |
| She battled her way back from a very tough alcohol | | | | feelings in other ways, and controlling her intake of |
| and drug addiction through rehab and lots of family | | | | food is one way she may have chosen to take |
| and individual therapy. | | | | charge of her life. |
| She landed a great reality television gig as Paris | | | | Of course this behavior can easily manifest itself into |
| Hilton's partner in crime on The Simple Life, and is the | | | | a full-blown eating disorder, because it is based on |
| author of a fiction title: The Truth About Diamonds. | | | | the principle of "control" where these disorders |
| She also is getting married to fiance DJ AM, and | | | | usually begin. |
| appears to be very happy in that relationship. | | | | The Bottom Line? |
| Okay that sounds great - but isn't she just too | | | | Well, the bottom line is that although she may have |
| skinny? | | | | her reasons - Nicole Richie is way too thin - too |
| While it is true that Nicole Richie looked unhealthy | | | | skinny - much too petite. Hopefully, in spite of all the |
| early on in The Simple LIfe and in other celebrity | | | | media attention to her weight - she will get the "real" |
| pictures around that time - I wouldn't necessarily | | | | kind of help and attention she needs from her friends |
| have called her chubby. Instead I would say, she | | | | and family, as well as direction from a mental health |
| looked bloated. Unhealthy from all of the poisons she | | | | professional who can help her redirect her energy |
| was ingesting, Richie has said in the past (such as on | | | | into more positive avenues. |
| the Oprah show) that she had been on an escalating | | | | Good luck Nicole! |
