The Top 5 Issues of Being a Celebrity
Guest Blog By Patrick Wanis PhD
Celebrity Life Coach and Human Behavior Expert
Have you ever dreamed about being rich and famous – about being a celebrity? Imagine the glamorous parties, the red carpet, flying in your own private jet to exclusive islands, being showered with gifts, applause and attention. Imagine living in a luxurious mansion and being surrounded by the best help with people catering to your every whim and need everywhere you go. Yes, that is the appeal of the life of a celebrity.
However, as a Celebrity Life Coach and Human Behavior Expert, who works intimately with celebrities, I can also reveal that the truth: famous people love and hate their life, and the world of fame creates a plethora of psychological issues unique to it. From my work and experience, I have identified 20 psychological issues with being a celebrity. Here are the top 5 in ascending order:
5. “Everyone uses me”
You are rich, famous and you can open doors for other people. You are enveloped by parasites and enablers. These are the “yes” people who don’t care about you or your wellbeing; they stick to you because you benefit them in some way – attention, money, invitations to parties, favors and preferential treatment. They will say and do anything to remain in your circle – they will even supply you with drugs or do other things they know will harm you.
4. “I can’t trust anyone and don’t know who my real friends are”
You now believe that you don’t have any real friends; “Who is my real friend?” you ask. When you realize that the entourage is simply a collection of parasites and enablers, you lose confidence in yourself; you feel that you can’t trust anyone and you almost become paranoid about anyone and everyone who claims to be a friend. You feel lonely and isolated because you can’t trust, and because you believe you don’t have any real friends.
You also respond by testing your friends to see if they are authentic.
3. “I have no privacy”
This is the love/hate relationship with fame. You love all the benefits – including the massive amounts of money, VIP treatment and attention.
However, you hate being out in public because of the incessant attention of the paparazzi and the fans. You have lost all privacy, swarms of eyes follow you everywhere you go, and, every little thing you do is magnified a thousand times or even worse, it is twisted into something it never was.
2. “I am entitled and I deserve more”
Your entourage, your fans and even the media keep screaming about how special you are. After all, the endless attention tells you that you are great, really great. Accordingly, you believe you are entitled to anything and everything you desire. You now believe you are above the law and you deserve to be treated better than everyone else.
1. “I am fraud and they are going to catch me out”
This is the top psychological issue facing celebrities; it is also the issue that affects everybody!
Despite all of your success, achievements, awards, recognition and external validation, it feels empty and you subconsciously believe you are an impostor and anytime now, someone is going to find out the truth about you. Subconsciously, you find ways to sabotage your life or you simply can’t enjoy the success. I call this phenomenon the Law of Deservedness; if you don’t subconsciously believe you are good enough, you will sabotage your life.
Click here if you want to discover the top 20 psychological issues of being a celebrity.