'Possessed' singer Houston gouges out eye

[True_Blue]

R&B singer Houston has gouged out his own eye after believing he had been possessed by the devil.

The star, real name Houston Summers IV, was found in his London hotel room Thursday night and was promptly rushed to hospital.

" found himself in the midst of a spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment industry," explained Houston's publicist in a statement issued yesterday.

Marco Powell, Houston's bodyguard, discovered him shortly after the incident. "I went to check on him before going to bed and I saw blood on the floor," said Powell. "Houston was lying on his bed with a towel over his face and I removed the towel to find his eye hanging out. He said he had to get the devil off of his back and that's the only way he could kill the devil."
more....
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds19018.html

[latteromden]

1. HOLY SHIT - imagine being his bodyguard!! *shivers*

And I thought OEDIPUS was bad...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. When will fundamentalism be added to the DSM IV

and appropriately treated?

The Los Angeles native was raised with strict Christian values and as a result found himself "constantly at odds with the temptations that come with success in the music business," the statement added.

[hughee99]

12. I don't really think this was a "religious" issue...

as much as it was a "mental disturbance" issue. There are lots of fundies, but few of them do any self-mutiliation without something else going on in their head.

[daleo]

3. I am ignorant of this singer, but that is an awful story.

I don't know if religion can give people delusions or some deluded people just fixate on religious themes. Terrible thing, either way for this fellow.

[GRLMGC]

4. Oh God!

That's horrible

At first, I thought this was about Whitney Houston. But yeah, this is horrible and gruesome

[givemebackmycountry]

5. NOW THAT'S an EYE POPPING story! n/t

[GoldfingerE]

6. Well, huh.

..."He showed no pain and he had no remorse," Powell added. "He said he had to do it. He said that that had freed him from everything. He was happy after that. He said he was changed and was ready to go. That symbolic statement basically freed him from all the pain he was in. He feels like he is closer to God now."

...symbolic statement? Freed him from everything? Wot'se gonna do next, masturbate with a crucifix?



-E!

[Psephos]

7. Sounds more like angel dust to me

But WTF do I know?

[Bozita]

8. How is this different from athletes and their steroids?

Gouging out your own eyeball? Tell me this guy is a clean liver.

Let's talk about pills and drugs.

Tell me just how "clean" this guy is.

[lazarus]

10. let's not jump to conclusions

Here's more:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1496457/02022005/houston.jhtml

"Los Angeles radio station KKBT-FM's K-Sly, who appeared in the "I Like That" video and is close to Houston's camp, said the singer had been under psychiatric care last year for manic depression. Another source corroborated that claim, adding that Houston had also struggled with PCP.

"I was told he wanted to commit suicide and stabbed his eye out," K-Sly said. "He was telling people he was Jesus and wanted to go home to his Father.""

Could be drugs, could be mental illness.

[ultraist]

14. Yes, looks like manic depression and drugs are involved

And conservative religion is also involved. He was trying to exorcise the devil! Extreme religiosity and mental illness go hand and hand.

Remember Andrea Yates who killed her own children?

[lazarus]

16. Not necessarily

When one is either on PCP or on a full fledged manic episode with no meds, one can easily start talking about god and thinking one is god.

Trust me, as a bipolar myself, there's no high available like a good manic episode. It's one reason we have such a problem staying on meds.

[ultraist]

18. Those God thoughts came from somewhere

People are not born with concepts of god, the devil and hell. A conservative strict religious upbringing can exacerbate a mental condition like manic depression, as can stress. I think this guys strict religious upbringing does play a part.

Wasn't Cybil's mother very religious too? There really is a link between the two, based on reputable research, I didn't just throw that out there.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

27. My son says the same thing

that the real manic part is great until he realizes he has completely lost control and gets scared. After 3 hospitalizations, he doesn't go off his meds anymore (it's been 5 years).

[Bozita]

15. That's a huge difference --- Thank you for your post

[lazarus]

17. my pleasure

the awareness of bipolar may be what gets mental illness finally accepted in this culture.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. Hey I didn't jump to conclusions...if he had said

"I'm late! I'm Late! For a very important date!" I would have indicted Lewis Carroll :evilgrin:

[Judi Lynn]

25. A related link attached to your MTV link is really sad.He had big problems

starting with his family, as mentioned in this linked article:

"Houston is going through spiritual warfare right now," Houston's bodyguard Marco Powell said. "It's like good versus evil. He grew up in a Christian family, and since he's signed his record deal he's been subjected to, in his own words, 'sins and devils in the business' like drugs, alcohol and all this stuff that he's not used to. He didn't want to be around that. He just wasn't happy with management — he just wasn't happy. He didn't know which way to turn."
(snip)

"We have a serious problem with the way the family is handling this kid's situation," Rowe said. "There's no reason for this kid to have no money. They passed on a publishing deal that could have helped him out right now. They got involved and we tried everything , but at the end of the day, Houston was loyal to his mom. I don't have a problem with that, but they are not capable of handling a kid like that. The kid was a star. He had a great opportunity laid out, so he should have had proper housing and a nice car."

"The kid still lives where he lives when we met him — in a two-bedroom apartment with four other people," Rankin said. "They spent all the kid's money."
(snip/)

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1496566/20050203/story.jhtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He needs some distance from his family, and he surely needs help from someone dedicated to seeing him brought back to life, and well again on all levels. He's not that old. It could happen.

[sendero]

32. Could be both.

[MADem]

9. When I read the headline my first thought was Whitney...n/t

[jdots]

21. I thought it was Whitney too

That stunt is SO last week, man can't they come up with anything new ?

[arcos]

26. haha, same here! nt

[purduejake]

11. So he thinks he killed the devil?

Great, so I'm not going to hell, right?

[truthisfreedom]

13. the quote tells all...

" found himself in the midst of a spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment industry..."

time for legislation to control the contracts entertainers are forced to sign.

[FuseONE]

19. this is funny

his publicist says "found himself in the midst of a spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment industry."

Or in other words, "he smoked too much dust and lost his marbles."

[sleipnir]

20. Who cares? That's the real question. And who is this idiot?

Never heard of this dumbass, and I at least think that I'm "in the know."

No sympathy for this joker, he should have taken out his brain while he was at it, the devil is in there, too!

[Tigress DEM]

22. The Bible says, "If your eye cause you to sin, pluck it out."

He was probably manic - having a religious delusion. It's too bad no one got him to a hospital where he wouldn't be a danger to himself.

And now that I've been serious and concerned.... it really is tragic.

Wonder if he voted for Bush and then found out the truth?

You see? This is why we have to go gently with our repubs out there. You never know how close to the edge they are.

[Solly Mack]

23. in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king?

or something like that....

[R Hickey]

28. If he had became a painter, would he have cut his ear off?

Perhaps, to get his mind off his lustful temptations, he should have circumcised himself.

[TomClash]

29. Eyes Wide Drugged

[raggedcompany]

30. I got all hopeful that Whitney Houston had done this. Damnit!!

[shadowknows69]

31. better hope the devil didn't hear you say that

that's really an awful thing to wish on anyone. Come on, where's the humanity here?