Follow up from Sean Costello

Atlanta's own Creative Loafing did a feature story on blues musician, Sean Costello. I was saddened to read the article, as it revealed no more about his death than previously spoken.
This evening, on a whim, I went back to CL's website and found the following information:

On Tuesday, June 3, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office released its autopsy report on Atlanta bluesman Sean Costello, the subject of this week’s Creative Loafing cover story: Sean Costello, 1979-2008.

Sadly, it was a drug overdose that killed him. The report states that the cause of death was “toxicity of heroin, chlordiazepoxide, ephedrine and amphetamine.”

The report also notes recent cocaine use by Costello. The medical examiner who completed the autopsy, Dr. Geoffrey Smith, says that it is impossible to determine exactly which drug or drug interaction caused Costello’s death, but it was most likely the result of the combination of the drugs in his system.

Chlordiazepoxide, also known as Librium, is a prescription anti-anxiety medication that is often prescribed to patients who are experiencing alcohol withdrawal, and not a typical treatment for just anxiety. Ephedrine and amphetamine, also known as speed, were found in small doses.

The police officer’s notes that were released with the autopsy also indicate that two packs of Parliament cigarettes were discovered in the hotel room where Costello’s body was found. One pack was full. The other contained one cigarette and a crack pipe. The initial police report stated that Costello died a natural death.

In light of the autopsy report, Costello’s former bass player and business partner, Aaron Trubic, underscores the tragedy with his quotes from this week’s cover story:

“… If you’re talking about demons and depression they should be used to catalyze a discussion about how the music business fucks with you on a daily basis and is not conducive to a normal lifestyle, and if you have a chemical disorder it makes it 10 times harder.”

I find news like this disturbing.
It is hard for me to hear because listening to this man play and sing made me happy. So happy that I dragged everyone I knew to listen to him.
It is hard to reconcile that everyone has things that they hide away from the light of day.
It is even harder to know that these things killed this man.

This happens every day, which is why it is imperative to me that work must be done to help individuals with any type of mental disorder.