Carrie Fisher honored in 2017 Voice Awards

The 2017 Voice awards, an awards program that honors those who have educated the public through their personal stories and work on mental health issues, has awarded the late Carrie Fisher Special Recognition for her efforts in changing the stereotype surrounding those with mental illness.

Carrie Fisher is most famously known for her role as Princess Leia in the worldwide global phenomenon Star Wars franchise, as well as many other roles throughout television and film.

She is also known for writing insightfully funny books in which she tackled the difficult subjects of mental illness and addiction with the ease and cleverness she became so well-known for.

Carrie Fisher’s Early Life

Born in 1956 to actors Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Carrie was raised as a member of a high-profile Hollywood family. At the age of just 15, she joined the Broadway stage in a production of Irene, starring her mother, and consequently dropped out of school when the show began to interfere too much with her schoolwork. She went on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, then attended Sarah Lawrence College for a short time, leaving before she could graduate.

Her 1987 debut novel, Postcards from the Edge, was an instant success, winning the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel and becoming a best seller in its own right. She later went on to write the screenplay for the movie adaptation just a few years later. The book was based heavily on Carrie’s own experiences with drug addiction and her relationship with her mother, and also showed how she used her wit and sense of humor to cope.

Carrie’s Struggles with Mental Illness and Addiction

“I am mentally ill. I can say that. I am not ashamed of that. I survived that, I’m still surviving it, but bring it on. Better me than you.” -Carrie Fisher

Diagnosed twice with bipolar disorder in the course of four years (the second time because she chose to ignore the first diagnosis), as well as body dysmorphic disorder, alcoholism and drug addiction, she was always very open concerning her mental and emotional battles.

When she was about 28 years-old, after a near-fatal overdose, Fisher began attending 12-step meetings and found great comfort in listening to stories of others who had been through similar experiences as herself.

Her play-turned-memoir/documentary “Wishful Drinking” shed some light on her personal struggles, as well as offering support and encouragement to anyone else who was experiencing the same or similar mental health issues as she was, saying that living with a mental illness takes a lot of courage and resilience, and anyone doing so should feel proud of how far they have come.

Other Recognitions and Awards

The Voice’s Special Recognition of her efforts in the field of advocacy is hardly the first time Fisher has been recognized for her outstanding efforts. In 2001, she was awarded the Rona and Ken Purdy Award by the National Alliance on Mental Illness for her efforts, and in 2016, Harvard University gave her its Annual Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism.

Through her candor and seemingly never-ending humor on even the most serious issues in life, Carrie Fisher charmed many and gave voice to many others who otherwise might never have spoken out or reached out for the proper help.

She will long be remembered not only as the beloved Princess Leia from Star Wars, but also as a prolific writer and advocate for mental health and recovery.