Launched in 2013, the harris project is a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of co-occurring disorders (COD) — the combination of mental health challenges and substance use issues. Us Weekly has partnered with the harris project to bring you The Missing Issue, a special edition focusing on the stories of celebrities who struggled with COD. Here, we’re revisiting our past coverage of some of those stars.
This story ran on usmagazine.com on November 9, 2022:
ORIGINAL STORY: Inside Aaron Carter’s Final Days Before His ‘Shocking’ Death: ‘It Was a Constant Battle’ (Exclusive)
[Read the full original story.]
NEW STORY: Inside Aaron Carter’s Final Days Coping With Co-Occurring Disorders: ‘It Was a Constant Battle’
The younger brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, Aaron Carter found fame in his own right as a fresh-faced pop singer. Following the release of his self-titled album in 1997, Aaron made waves with hits such the 2000 tracks “Aaron’s Party (Come and Get It)” and “I Want Candy.”
Carter was open about his struggles with substance misuse through the years. He was arrested for possession of marijuana several times and confessed to misusing benzodiazepines and opiates. In 2017, he revealed he had completed a stint at a rehabilitation center. But, on November 5, 2022, Carter was found dead at his California home, his official cause of death ruled as drowning due to the effects of difluoroethane and alprazolam. He was 34, a new father to then-eleven-month-old son, Prince. His sixth and final album, Blacklisted, was released two days later.
Like many others, Carter acknowledged that his substance misuse was an attempt at self-medicating to counter the crippling effects of mental health challenges like dissociative identity disorder, manic depression, and schizophrenia.
“Life, it was pretty tough,” he told Us Weekly in 2017. “I dealt with a lot of trauma, a lot of loss, a lot of loneliness … [But] my goal is to be the phoenix that rises from the ashes.”
He Shared His Mental Health Diagnoses and Substance Misuse
In a candid September 2019 interview on the syndicated talk show The Doctors, Carter laid out his mental health issues — and the medications he had subsequently been prescribed. “The official diagnosis is that I suffer from multiple personality disorder [dissociative identity disorder], schizophrenia, acute anxiety and manic depression,” he said. “I’m prescribed to Xanax, Seroquel, gabapentin, hydroxyzine, Trazodone, Omeprazen.”
Carter also revealed that he was huffing compressed gas. (Difluoroethane, one of the substances listed in his autopsy, is a common ingredient in spray cleaners and is known to lead to cardiac issues.) “I was huffing because I was really f—ing stupid and sad but this is really no excuse,” he disclosed on the show. “I was huffing because I’m a drug addict.”
Loved Ones Attempted to Help Him
Carter’s former fiancée, Melanie Martin, opened up to Us in January 2023 about the difficulties of intervening, specifically when the individual who needs help suffers from co-occurring disorders.
“I tried to get him help, and he did want help,” she said. “There were moments of him saying, ‘I want to do better and I’m not this person,’ but he would change his mind within moments. He was a good person and a good dad, but he had a lot of sadness in his heart from his life. […] He had things missing in his life that I could not fulfill.”
He Was Trying to Find Positivity in His Pain
After Carter’s death, director Brian Farmer revealed that a pilot for Group, a series centered on group therapy and mental health awareness, had been completed, with Carter playing a fictionalized version of himself. “Aaron was so excited about the show and helping raise awareness for mental health, a topic he was very passionate about,” Farmer said in a November 2022 statement to Deadline. “He said being a part of the show gave him something positive to work toward.”
A Family’s Grief
Carter’s sister Angel, 37, who also lost sister Leslie to a reported overdose in 2012, has found a way to further the conversation about co-occurring disorders and turn tragedy “into something positive.” Speaking exclusively to Us in October 2024, she discussed the launch of the Songs for Tomorrow benefit concert, a memorial for Aaron used to raise awareness for the Kids Mental Health Foundation.
“I know Aaron better than anybody,” she said, “and that is exactly what he, in his right mind, would have wanted to do [with his platform]. Unfortunately, because of mental health issues and drug addiction and dysfunction within the family, he lost sight of who he was. I hope to be a vessel for him to continue that conversation and really turn my family’s narrative around. That’s what it’s about now, and we’re going to help so many people.”
Hollywood is mourning the death of Aaron Carter. The singer was 34. Among those to share heartfelt tributes was Hilary Duff, who dated the “That’s How I Beat Shaq” performer when they were young teenagers. “For Aaron — I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in-front […]
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If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health and/or substance use, you are not alone. Seek immediate intervention — call 911 for medical attention; 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; or 1-800-662-HELP for the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) National Helpline. Carrying naloxone (Narcan) can help reverse an opioid overdose.
