A few years ago, Owen was knee deep into the Hollywood mainstream, his talents apparent to every comedian and many actors and actresses. But he has a high IQ, and he knew it. I was designated a high IQ early on but also ADHD. I never recognized my potential until HS when I started taking ADHD meds and quickly remembered my logic classes from middle school and went to the top of South Carolina’s LD debate hierarchy in my junior and senior year. From there… the impulsivity and genetic tendency towards alcoholism hit me in college. It has anchored me for over a decade in my late teens to mid 20s in addiction. Coming up on 4 years of recovery I can look back (cautiously) and see the exact same high intellect alcoholic spiraling in thought that it seems Owen is experiencing. He says he doesn’t drink anymore but that self-justification and curious lines of deduction just look incredibly familiar to me. I’m not a therapist, but all I can say is, whatever this man is going through, he seems to be trying to cling to certain principles, like anti-pedophilia, free-thought, and nonviolence as long as possible. I encourage everyone here to pray for him, encourage him if you have a good approach, and be kind. We know he is wrong and alcoholism/addiction looks a lot like mental illness a lot of the time.
End of my sermon.
One reply on “Don’t Laugh at Owen Benjamin”
What is especially sad is that we are seeing the slow motion self destruction of a talented man. What is tragic is that so many would help if asked but he is too deep in denial to even see what is happening. I no longer follow or watch. I can no longer enjoy his talent. Unless he understands and seeks help the fall will be hard and brutal so I pray for him but his Wife and Kids most of all.