Justin Bieber and the Cost of Fame

How would it feel to be the most searched-for person in the world on Google? More amazingly, how would it feel if you were only 17 years old at the time? You might ask Justin Bieber to answer those questions. According to Microsoft’s search engine Bing, more people searched for Bieber in 2011 — when he was 17 — than any other person in the world.  His manager, Scooter Braun, in barely an overstatement, says “No one has ever grown up in the history of humanity like Justin Bieber.”

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber in concert

In an article on Amen Clinics, the implications and consequences of his early fame are discussed in depth, drawing on Bieber’s new YouTube docuseries Seasons for dramatic illustrations.

Sure, he had serious talent and was admired worldwide, but “he faced some serious struggles like so many people do,” says Dr. Amen. ‘Being human is challenging for everybody,’ he [Bieber] says in the docuseries. ‘We’re all struggling to some degree. We all have our individual pains, and fears and anxieties, worries.’ Justin knows this only too well because while his career was soaring, his personal life was spinning out of control into anxiety, depression, and addiction. And his brain was under assault.”

For an in-depth discussion of the adolescent brain and its reaction to alcohol, drugs and even fame, see the excellent article on Amen Clinics.