Carl Senna's List: Addictions & Celebrities

Throughout history there have been brilliant men and women who seemed incapable of balancing the demands of their personal lives with their contributions to history. Today, we are able to recognize that many of history’s most fascinating figures were in fact in need of professional help.

Many of these historical figures self-medicated themselves in order to fight their personal demons. Some chose drugs or alcohol, while others engaged in dangerous behavior that put their health at risk. If they were alive today, they would definitely need to spend some time in treatment to overcome their issues. Here are seven of the most fascinating people in history and their chosen vices.

1. Vincent Van Gogh

VICE: Absinthe

DISORDER: Epilepsy & Bipolar Disorder

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to speak into my good ear. It’s in my pocket”

Few people know that Vincent Van Gogh, tortured artist and earless legend, suffered from a case of the crazies. Years later, it would be revealed that “the crazies” was actually a misdiagnosis of epilepsy, which he aggravated through absinthe abuse.

Van Gogh used absinthe as a way to manage his condition. Thujone, the toxin in absinthe, made his epilepsy and manic depression far worse than if he hadn’t medicated at all. While it is unclear as to which came first, the epilepsy or the absinthe, Vincent Van Gogh definitely could have benefited from at least a brief stint at a rehab center.

2. Ulysses S. Grant

VICE: Alcohol

DISORDER: Hypocrisy

Grant, posing for an old-timey baseball card

The biggest alcoholic to ever be put on money (except maybe the guy on the Wyoming quarter), U.S. Grant had been drinking long before he made it to the White House.

What is ironic about Grant is the fact that he was, in fact, a “Son of Temperance.” Actively fighting the fight against alcohol abuse, U.S. Grant did what he could to abstain from the bottle. That is until he quit the Sons of Temperance, and resumed drinking like a fish. While history will remember him as a man who helped win the Civil War, his fr

NOTICED
Why His Face May End Up in Webster’s
By LAURA M. HOLSON
Published: March 3, 2010
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SOMETIMES you hear a word for the first time and think: “Of course.” How better to describe Paris Hilton than as a “celebutante” or the frequent tabloid target Alec Baldwin as “the bloviator”? (Thanks, New York Post!)

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press
IN A WORD ... Mr. Prehab.
Now make room for “prehab.”

Prehab made its debut on Feb. 23, the handiwork of GlasgowRose, a commenter on Gawker, after a publicist for Charlie Sheen announced that the star of “Two and a Half Men” was entering rehab as a “preventative measure.” The announcement was supposed to deflect rumors that the actor had returned to his hard-partying ways. But instead, Gawker wrote a satirical post defining prehab as a vehicle for celebrity spin. “Get the ‘rehab’ career bump without actually being an addict,” Gawker wrote.

After being picked up by a number of blogs, including newser.com and thefrisky.com, prehab quickly moved to mainstream news outlets, including The Boston Herald, where one columnist questioned whether prehab was “the new personal leave,” and The Daily News, where it was described as a “celebrity thing.”

Addiction is serious business and this is not Mr. Sheen’s first time in rehab; he has struggled with alcohol and drugs for years. In December he was arrested in Aspen, Colo., and charged with a felony after his wife, Brooke Mueller, told police he had threatened to kill her with a knife. (Mr. Sheen’s publicist declined to give more details on his client.) Ms. Mueller, too, recently entered rehab.

That’s why, to some people, prehab sounds a lot like rehab minus the stigma of admitting a relapse. “If you have to use the word prehab to get someone some help, I’m O.K. with that,” said Brad Lamm, an intervention specialist in Los Angeles who has appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show.” “But there is no such thing as prehab.”

Or as Ken Sunshine, a veteran celebrity publicist put it, spin is, well, spin. “It’