Delta Burke and Other Celebrities with Mental Illnesses

Recently Delta Burke, the former Designing Women star, checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for hoarding, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder, as reported by TMZ.com. This is only the latest instance in the growing trend of celebrities entering various treatment facilities. Other celebrities who have reportedly entered psychiatric hospitals are Dave Chappell, Mikey Welsh(bassist of the band Weezer), and Mary Kate Oslen. Although with different motivations, each of these celebrities checked themselves in voluntarily.

On May 11^th of 2005 Entertainment Weekly reported that Dave Chappelle had been in a South African mental hospital since April of that year after he had apparently become disillusioned with Hollywood. Although his stay delayed the production of his highly rated Comedy Central television series production eventually resumed and continued until 2006 when the last episode aired.

After leaving the band Weezer in 2001, Mikey Welsh checked into a psychiatric hospital sometime in August of the same year. It was reported that he was seeking treatment for both drug addiction and mental illness. Welsh, who was actually a replacement for the bands original bassist Matt Sharp, has not returned to the band since leaving in 2001 and has himself been replaced with Scott Shriner. The latest incarnation of Weezer is expected to release their next album in spring of 2008.

In June of 2004 USA Today reported that the 18 year old mogul Mary Kate Olsen was seeking treatment at an undisclosed location for anorexia, prior to attending the University of New York. She would later take a leave of absence from the University due to her public break up with Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III, who went on to date well known hotel heiress Paris Hilton.

Mental illness is a growing problem in our country and around the globe, in 2004 the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that one in four American adults(26.2 %) suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in a given year and nearly half(45%) of those people have 2 or more diagnosable mental disorders. Considering those statistics the real surprise is that there are not more celebrities checking into psychiatric treatment facilities.

Sources:

TMZ Staff, "Delta Burke in Psychiatric Ward" TMZ.com

Josh Wolk, "Chappelle's No-Show" Entertainment Weekly

Brian Hiatt," Weezer Bassist Checks Into Psychiatric Hospital" CMT.com

James Jung, "Better or Worse Bands Who've Replaced Bandmates" Blender

Gina Sherpe, "Eonline.com: Mary-Kate Talks Paris, Stavros " Eonline.com

Cesar G. Soriano, " Mary-Kate Olsen seeks treatment for eating disorder " USA Toaday

National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics NIMH.nih.gov