Carrie Fisher Helped Me Grasp My Mental Illness and Addiction

I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by own bra, wrote Carrie Fisher in her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking, in what is truly the most apposite, preemptive obit of the modern era—one resonating far louder this week with the news of her death at age 60. It's particularly appropriate for a woman who has spent the better part of her adult life fending off trolls (long before Twitter made that a fun game for all of us), bucking the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder—sometimes called manic depression—and fighting a battery of addictions. Fisher was an indelible, often painfully self-deprecating figure who lent an honest lens into the silent battles of drug addiction and mental illness, making it easier for many of us to face down our own demons and seek appropriate help.