Amy Winehouse Crushed By Sudden Fame

Some stars seem born to be in the spotlight, thriving in the attention and adulation of their adoring fans and finding a way to navigate the downsides of intense public scrutiny with seeming ease. Others, such as troubled singer Amy Winehouse, appear to have difficulty handling the harsh spotlight and retreat into a destructive cycle of substance abuse and self-harm from which they never return.

Winehouse died at age 27 on Saturday. And though her cause of death has not been determined, it would seem with her sadly short career, which saw her rocket from obscurity in 2006 to tragic demise just five years later, she is the latest example of an artist for whom fame was to be too much, too soon.
"Anyone who is thrust into that kind of celebrity with that kind of attention needs a solid, well-built foundation and support system that they can wrap around them like a blanket," said Dr. Charles Sophy, a psychiatrist who has appeared on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and "The Housewives of Beverly Hills" and is the author of a new book on conflict-free communication for mothers and daughters, called "Side by Side."
"If you don't have those key elements, you're more likely to implode and hit a wall," Sophy said.