A Battle With Addiction: Toxicology Reports of Carrie Fisher’s Death Revealed

Toxicology reports from Hollywood legend Carrie Fisher’s death were revealed Monday, following her December 2016 death. She was found to have detectable levels of cocaine, methadone, ethanol, and opiates in her system.

The report comes from the Los Angeles County coroner.

Fisher rose to fame starring as Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, beginning her career in a family with show business ties. Aside from her roles in major blockbusters, Fisher also experienced success as a memoirist and playwright. An outspoken advocate for issues of mental health, Fisher herself suffered from bipolar disorder and addiction.

Postcards from the Edge, published by Fisher in 1987, was a partially autobiographical novel that chronicled drug addiction and mother-daughter relationships. The content of the novel was loosely based on Fisher’s own experiences and relationship with her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds.

In a bizarre twist of fate, Reynolds died less than 24 hours after Fisher’s death.

Brilliantly funny and socially motivated to produce change through her platform as a public figure, Fisher wrote in another of her semi-autobiographical works, Wishful Drinking, “One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. Not unlike a tour of Afghanistan (though the bombs and bullets, in this case, come from the inside).”

Through decades of struggling with her mental health, Fisher maintained a candid dialogue with her fans. Her only daughter, Billie Lourd, was aware of her mother’s battle, and spoke openly of it in response to the official toxicology reports.

“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it.  She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases,” stated Lourd.