Marin writer laments actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death in Time column

Feb. 05--As soon as news broke that Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose, Time magazine reached out to Marin resident David Sheff to share his thoughts about the news.

Sheff, a freelance journalist who lives in Point Reyes Station, has been writing about drug addiction since contending with his own son's bout with the disease -- including authoring two books and around 10 columns for Time.

Hoffman, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote, died Sunday of an apparent drug overdose, at the age of 46. Hoffman had reportedly confronted his addiction at 22 years old, and remained clean for most of his adult life. But he checked into a drug rehabilitation facility last year, after a heroin relapse.

Police said they found what appeared to be heroin in the apartment where his body was found.

On Sunday, Sheff produced a column titled "How Philip Seymour Hoffman could have been saved." In it, he expresses frustration, even anger, about Hoffman's lost battle with drug addiction, which Sheff says could have been prevented.

"An editor (at Time) said, basically, 'if you have anything to talk about on the tragedy,' and suggested that since people don't normally talk about this topic unless somebody prominent dies, it makes sense to talk about how to prevent people from dying in the future," Sheff said. "Unfortunately, it takes somebody prominent (to die) for me to talk about it."

The column appeared to be well received by readers. As of Tuesday evening, it received nearly 8,000 Facebook "likes" and a web link to the story was tweeted more than 600 times.

Sheff said that, along with Hoffman, the drug-related deaths of actor Heath Ledger, who starred in "Brokeback Mountain" and as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," and "Glee" actor Corey Monteith are examples of high-profile deaths spurring national dialogues about drug addiction.

Sheff was drawn into the world of drug addiction when his son, Nic, became addicted to substances such as heroin and methamphetamine. Sheff chronicled his family's "10-year, hellish experience trying to keep Nic alive" in his book, "Beautiful Boy. He followed that with "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy," which looks at the most cutting-edge research on drug addiction and asserts it is a preventable and treatable disease -- as opposed to a moral failing.

Nic Sheff, 31, has also written two memoirs about his struggles with substance abuse.

The two appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2008 to discuss the journey through addiction and recovery.

"Since we went through this with my son, I've pretty much been immersed in this world, writing about mental health and addiction," Sheff said.

In Sheff's column, he explains that Hoffman's death isn't Hoffman's fault, but rather the fault of the disease -- drug addiction -- that controlled him. He speculates that Hoffman likely didn't receive the cutting-edge, "evidence-based" treatment, including cognitive behavioral therapy, or a medication treatment, such as Suboxone, to stave off the addiction cravings.

Paul Pribuss, a psychotherapist in San Rafael who runs Marin Drug Recovery, agrees that cognitive therapy is an essential tool for a recovering addict. But he isn't so sure Hoffman's death could have been prevented.

"Could he have been saved? That's a very subjective question," Pribuss said. "I tend to doubt that."

Hoffman is said to have checked into a rehab facility last May because he had relapsed with heroin. What is not publicly known is whether he sought counseling after detoxifying. That is an important detail in understanding Hoffman's plight, since rehab facilities are not necessarily intended to rehabilitate drug addicts, Pribuss said.

"They're an attempt to get you clean," he said.

Pribuss also isn't a big supporter of the medication approach to treatment. While medications such as Suboxone help in the short term, he said, long term reliance on them can lead to other problems.

"My sense is that they just create another addiction," Pribuss said. "The idea is to be free and clear of addiction."

Pribuss said that after addicts sober up, through a process such as a 12-step program, they need to continue their recovery, as Sheff asserts, through cognitive therapy.

"My thinking is that recovery is an ongoing process," Pribuss said. "It's something you have to keep your hand in for the rest of your life."

A problem with ongoing treatment is expense. Since insurance doesn't always cover the cost of continued rehab, many addicts and their families can't afford to continue paying for treatment.

But in Hoffman's case, "the sadness is that he had any and all resources at his disposal," Pribuss said. "Money wasn't an issue."

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Contact Laith Agha via email at [email protected]

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