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July 21st, 2011
12:07 PM ET
Dr. Drew on Palins: How close is too close?Editor's note: Dr. Drew Pinsky, a board-certified internist, regularly interviews people in the spotlight to learn more about their emotional lives. Bristol Palin will be Dr. Drew’s guest on a special edition of "Dr. Drew" on HLN Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. One thing jumped out at me over and over again when I interviewed Bristol Palin: She had difficulty identifying and expressing feelings. Even when pressed, she was unable to dig deep and readily find an emotional response. Based on how Bristol described her family, the Palins seem to exhibit what in my line of work is called an “enmeshed” family. It’s more than being close. It’s being too close. And while it is not an awful situation it can be a handicap. Bristol's message: Don't skip your pill In more severe enmeshment, individual identity suffers. Sense of self can be totally lost. A person is ultimately unable to look within. So he or she acts out. And this, I believe, is what may have happened to Bristol to some degree. She was the proverbial “good girl” with loving, supportive and well-meaning parents. She was exactly the daughter that they needed to her to be. But when they didn’t keep up their end of the bargain and became too busy, the enmeshment became more complicated. It’s tough when your mother is Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Bristol Palin: Being a teen mom is hard Bristol lost her virginity to “bad boy” Levi Johnston while drunk on wine coolers. As she explains in her new book, "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far," she’d lied about him and what they were doing. She lied to her parents, and to herself. And then came baby Tripp. Bristol was forced to publicly confront the reality of being pregnant during the 2008 presidential campaign. Her mother, John McCain’s running mate, was even less available to Bristol than ever. For a girl who grew up seeing her mom and herself as one, this was beyond difficult. Bristol is sweet, genuine, and intelligent. She has so much to offer. And she has a platform. The country is listening to what she has to say. But she needs to work hard to develop a sense of who she is. She is Bristol Palin. Not Sarah. Follow @DrDrew and @CNNHealth on Twitter
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
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I just knew something was wrong with that clan!
I'm surprised that Dr. Drew didn't respond to Bristol's contention that she missed out on her education. Other single mothers, without her financial means & family support, have managed to finish their studies; why not, Bristol? The interview would have been much more informative if Dr. Drew had followed up on many of her assertions. Disappointing!
There is really something wrong with this Dr. Drew (or is it Dr. Dre ??) He's just jealous of the closeness of this family. Maybe his mommy never hugged him. Psycho-babble strikes again. Psychiatry is a crock. After we kill all the lawyers we must get the "psycho"s.
Fred: Please, your response that Dr. Drew is "just jealouse" is straight our of junior high. Your are on the same intellectual level as Bristol. Grow up!
You people should be ashamed of yourselves. The only person I am ashamed of is Dr.Drew. He left his liveralism exposed. Why someone would want to attack a young girl and her relationship with her mother is beyond my comprehesnion. in a world where family is the last thing people seem to care about. This young lady loves and respects all of her family. What a shame that she is so victomized by society.
Jeannette, you were homeschooled, right?
liveralism?
comprehesnion?
victomized?
Sure, I can see "comprehesnion" being a typo, but not the other two.
Use the spellchecker. It's your friend.
She is a garbage brained twit just like her mother.
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN
Spewing hate again?
Get a life you message board idiot!
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN
You are really an idiot, get an education.
---
Excellent advice. Nothing screams 'education' like name calling.
Another chance for neanderthals to bash the Palins. Lovely. Wonder what Dr. Drew would say about you.
I'd do 'em both
Bristol the Pistol: "Unvirgined"
Bristol the Pistol...I like that.
Beware of those "wine coolers" – they'll make a "good girl" bad!
I think this is such a b.s. coverup excuse. Like it only happened the one time, and because of the wine coolers?! Please. More likely, she was doing him every which way, and probably 3 times a day. And, at her parents house...
this piece brings back some wonderful memories of high school...
sneaking out at night, drinking Boone's and making out like rabbits...
man, if I had that kind of stamina now that I know what I'm doing, I'd be a force to be reckoned with!!
It's not a lot: I didn't know rabbits could make out...didn't even know they had lips. LOL
63, letarded.Yeah, those awful Bush years. We had 4.5% unoylpemment during GOP rule (2002-2006) and Pelosi/Reid/Obama promised to change that. 2007, Pelosi Congress started to pass all those great things about jobs. Well, they did change that, I'll admit that.You must be so proud how things are going.
What bunk.
Who cares?
Poor little rich girl!
Defoliating a Victory Garden is hard work. What's for breakfast?
"Porgie?
Porgie Tirebiter!
Your clam cakes are getting damp!"
Don't eat with your hands, son.
Use your entrenching tool!
Well, this is clearly out of control.
Or not.
Those darn democrats, always trying to make Sarah Palin seem dumb. As if she cannot do that herself.
Not surprised about this freaky family's freaky situation at all. However, I'd have to take issue with the statement that the country is listening to what Bristol has to say. I think "the country" has a plethora of more interesting and certainly more relevant people to whom they would prefer to listen. The Palins just manage somehow to keep themselves and their ridiculous soundbites in our daily lives. We would prefer to ignore them, but we can't stop paying attention even if we want to: it's the curse of needing the train wreck to bring us back to all the more important things happening around us. I hate it when I read about them. But I do, just in case I might someday forget how useless they are in the grand scheme.
You want to ignore them, but find the time to comment on an article about them? That makes sense.
I disagree with Dr Drews observations. While it is true that the family is indeed close-knit, Bristol knows who she is.She's a typical 20 yr old living life day to day, fighting off haters by the thousands, trying to discover what she's meant to do on earth. Is she like her mom? Of course. It's her MOTHER. But I don't think things would be too different is Sarah weren't Governor or VP nominee. I know Alaska and Bristol was literally a normal Alaskan teen with many friends and interests. Yes she made mistakes. But she's never been in jail, unlike many teens in and outside Alaska. She's never been in serious trouble. She's been open about her past, especially considering she'd get attacked for it.
Accidents happen. It sucks one had to happen to her, and involving a high school dropout with no goals. But Bristol is a strong girl who can literally take anything. She tried to give Tripp a full time father but it made HER unhappy, which would have made Tripp ultimately unhappy.
She has her family. She has good friends. In the end, that's all we have that's worth living, no?
Wow, Jeff, do you read a lot of fantasy comic books? Or an anthology of children's fables? Because your version of what the Palins are like - there's a reason they're called the Wasilla Mafia - is right out of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in "Alice in Wonderland".
Oh please, the REAL 'Dude' was such a liberal, it's not even funny. If you're going to pretend to be someone else, at least make it someone who is similar to you, and not a polar opposite....DUDE.
And Drew came across as very defensive of the still very young Ms. Bristol. And NO family is perfect, especially with her mom as an integral part of the mix.
"Sarah Palinn will make a great President."
Of the Sarah Palin fan club maybe....honestly, if you REALLY think Palin is an ideal fit for President, turn in your voter registration card, you don't deserve it.
we dont hate liberals
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN seems to hate anyone with cognitive thought. Probably just envious jealousy.
Me and PROUD are very good friends.
She would make a great President? Really? What do you base that on? She attended 6 colleges before finishing her degree. She quit her job to write puffy books about nonsense and become a reality TV star. Why exactly do you think that she would make a "great" president? She can't even answer a question about what newspapers she reads. Any time she comes across as stupid she blames everyone but herself. This is a very dumb woman who has made her fortune off of dumb people. Let me guess, PROUDTOBEAREPUBLICAN, you never finished high school, right?
SARAH PALIN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012.
She'd split your poor party right down the middle. Never happen.
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN is trolling for dollars.
That would assure Obama a second term. Don't think the republicans want that.
Pride goeth before a fall...........
If you were truly Proud to be a Republican, you would not want Shara Palin as your top candidate.
ANYBODY BUT O-SCAM-A FOR PREISDENT IN 2012...if we make it that long.
Do we hate the liberals who died in WW2, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan and etc. ?
Dr. Drew, I have no interest in voting for Sarah Palin for any public office. However, if you can find fault in a closely nit family, who have been under the hot lights of the public eye for years and who rely on one another for support and guidance, you can find fault in anyone. And while I expect to see Bristol on camera for some time to come, I still think she should be off limits to pseudo medical diagnosis in the guise of an interview.
I would vote for her and most Republicans would also.
it's "knit", you nit-wit.
"Proud", stop talking for most Republicans because you are simply WRONG.
Maniacmudd
I think maybe he/she has it right...they are a bunch of nits, never actually graduated to being real lice yet. But they will.
this is modern psychology, everything is now an illness/wrong/bad/or problematic. personally don't care about the Palins or their personal life. Bristol is no different than millions of other teen moms out there.
Issues? Man, she wrote an "Ethics law" that demolished her own career. She thought Paul Revere was on the British side. She barely finished college. She isn't even Republican; she was part of the Alaska Secession movement, wanting to secede from the USA. She doesn't represent you or or your core values, except that you like to call people names the way she does, and even the name-calling is unpresidential. Back another horse because this one's lost already.
"The country is listening to what she has to say"
What country would that be ?
All you hateful Liberal Democrats, Brack Obama will NOT gety reelected
Take a good look; no Republican is running hard enough to even be a challenge. The first black president will be easily re-elected, that's obvious. Your challenge, besides learning to spell the President's name correctly, is to field a candidate who appeals enough to the Tea Party Lunatics to keep them from running their own candidate both now and in 2018, when you might actually have a chance to win. If the GOP is still split in 2018, you will never again see the inside of the White House. You'll get some governorships and congressional seats, but you won't be able to get close in the national elections with 15-20% of your votes gone to the Tea Loonies.
The country of Confusia?
@ proud ... he won't "gety" re-elected. He will GET re-elected. Make sure you check your spelling before you click the "Post" button.
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN called liberals haters, then told them to go to HELL.
In the same sentence! I must admit, I hate stupid people.
What a sap.
Wow, good comeback there!
Haha! I Love Trolls and there ridiculous comments. Palin for Prez? Hahaha! The Troll has better chance of having a gerbil fly out of her pooper than Palin becoming Prez. Oh wait...That may be a bad comparison...Mr. Slave? Is that who the troll is?
my mom could beat up your mom
I'll support Perry/Palin 2012 if they mean Katy & Michael. Pop & Python Platform!
I would absolutely vote for them!!
My bet is that the people of alaska have their faces in their hands by now when it comes to this palin clan. The palins are a disgrace to alaska and to america and they really put america in a very ignorant light.
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN is a message board troll.
I'm sorry, but I've been drunk many times to the extent of toxicity and I STILL remembered my actions and what I have done.
Ok, this shouldn't even be news at this point. It's sickening that this family can make as much money as they do, when everyday I see college students like myself struggle. Proud to be a republican... Hopefully you really love palin, because you are proving to be well about as smart as most of the 18 year olds I have seen in class. She is smart, because she plays up her idiotic thoughts. If I am going to have someone in office I want them to be intelligent and (gasp) know something about foreign policy. Did obama make mistakes in office? Yes, but I have a feeling that you wouldn't care either way. He is trying, you are probably doing squat on a given day. And before you ask, I am a senior in criminal justice and I am not a liberal. Though looking at you I wouldn't want to be a republican.
Unfortunately, many only vote for an candidate based on what club they are a member of, not based on the actual candidate's qualifications.
Assuming that she somehow becomes smart all of a sudden, who would want a president in office who is going to resign halfway through her term? What a way to show that one is not a quitter.
Bristol is sweet, genuine, and intelligent. She has so much to offer. And she has a platform. The country is listening to what she has to say.
----
I'm not sure about this. I know of no one who is "listening to what she has to say". She's 20!!! What the heck could she have to say that anyone would need to listen to? Never mind the fact that she's a Palin, which means by her very nature she'll do and say anything that benefits her, without regard to truth.
Close families that love eachother are an important part of a strong society. Leave them alone. They are a beautiful , dying breed. Keep your psychobabble, family-divisive theories off of them. Of course Bristol is still defining herself, she is barely out of her teens! They may not be perfect , but a child from a divided family is much more at risk. Leave her alone. (-not a family member or even an aquaintence. )
And you are dumber than a spatula. You're like the rest of the sheep on the right. No independent thoughts......
Poor Bristol, give me a break, she has no clue Alaskan airhead, spoiled brat
I'd like to personally thank that moron John McCain for picking this dingbat as a running mate and exposing her idiocy to the rest of the country.
Dr. Drew has allowed his ego to go over the edge! His allegations are stupid and not becoming to his profession. Clearly his loyalty is on the other side. Bristol is doing her thing. What about the plump Megan McCaine dragging on her rich family's tales? Let the kid alone. Our country is in such a ditch that it will take a miracle to get out of it.
Dr. Drew needs to go back to private practice where he belongs. Or quit practicing altogether since his judgement is clouded by his big ego.
Right on Sweetthing!
"Bristol is doing her thing" OMG, you mean she's become a hippie from the 1960s? But I thought conservative Republicans were anti-hippie? Down the rabbit hole again . . .
Dr. Drew Pinsky has gone the way of "Dr." Phil McGraw. A same really. Pinsky used to have so much potential....
I;m sure that without your support he is doomed.
I knew there was a reason I changed parties....to get a way from rediculous people like you! Unbelieveable....
Why would anyone waste time on Bristol Palin? A chance to show off her plastic surgery? What has she ever done except get pregnant? Why give her the publicity? If you really want a discussion of the perils of teen pregnancy, get a panel of women who have been through the experience. I will never understand why anyone would give people like the Palins a stage, especially Dr. Drew. I, for one, won't watch the idiot.
Could not have said that any better. A total disgrace and embarrassment to this country and the whole world is laughing at how far down the gutter america has gone to give this redneck hillbilly clan the time of day.
If granny grizzly or bristol lived in any other industrialize country they would never have made it out of the dugout. Those countrys require and demand intelligences, maturity, character, being well rounded & worldly minded, commitment, and a good solid education. The palins have really put america in a very ignorant light.
Well said, Marcus.
I realize other world nations may have their fair share of ignorant folk but, for some bizarre reason the United States is the only country that seem to revere & reward them. Strange.
Does Granny Grizzly and her dysfunctional family even have the slightest clue that the whole world (besides that little clan of redneck teapartiers) are laughing and making fun of them?????
Look up the Dunning-Kruger effect. Unintelligent people lack the metacognitive awareness to realize how unintelligent they are, and how others view them.
It's pretty much what drives the Tea Party.
Might this young lady have a controlling mom?
Sarah Palin is not the govenor of Alaska. She was once elected to that position but quit after just 2.5 years. It's one thing to write a pointless fluff piece like this, but the agenda changes when it's used as a vehicle for mis-information. CNN was once a great news organization, about 20 years ago, now it is the "Home of the Ranters", and purveyor of fluff.
Palin and Bachmann remind me of two housewives of the 40's talking over the "clothesline" in their backyards.
“And then came baby Tripp. Bristol was forced to publicly confront the reality of being pregnant during the 2008 presidential campaign. Her mother, John McCain’s running mate, was even less available to Bristol than ever.”
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Shame on selfish, narcissist sarah palin for putting her child’s unwed pregnancy and privacy on the national stage for the world to see. But palin’s lust for high office was strong–so, so what about Bristol? Can you say thoughtless and COLD?!
Amen. A GOOD mother would've taken a pass rather than put her unwed teenage mother in the international spotlight.
KC, she was PROUD. "See how pregnant my daughter is? No abortions here! We're family values all the way!" People voted for her because of her pregnant daughter.
marcus
“My bet is that the people of alaska have their faces in their hands by now when it comes to this palin clan. The palins are a disgrace to alaska and to america and they really put america in a very ignorant light.”
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SO true. Add the news that sarah palin’s son, Track, who just got married about two months ago has a VERY pregnant new wife. The “abstinence-only” palins are a farce. Too bad so many far right Repubs are clueless about the palin trailer trash family because they only get their news from Fauxnews.
Isn't it rather a case that abstinence doesn't work, Shelby?
PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN, best.. troll.. EVARRRR!!!!
It's funny how educated, intelligent people tend to lean left.
Gary [38];I can't be too coc/<y, as it did show as under contract last I knew; but I'll belveie it when I see the deed recorded, because to the best of my knowledge one of the owner's kids was homeless (after selling his own house in the same town at a loss). If it does sell to a third party I'll be very keen to strike up a conversation with the buyer about how much his realtor convinced him outbid the "other bidder " (i.e., me) by. I'll give you a hint if the delusional kids accepted the offer, he outbid me by a country mile we were told that there were no bids to be had in the 18 mos before I showed up.
She's a good indicator of how raising a brain washed super conservative will turn out. Her mom is a loud mouth twit who quits when scared. Bristol is just as disconnected from reality. They need to go away...like to Bostwana...forever.
I frequently see pploee referring links to zillow/trulia however many realtors i talk to downplay them as riddled with errors.. In my experience they are fairly accurate with what's on public records such as the tax history. I know zestimate can be far off given that it doesn't take into account such things as flood zones, high-transmission electric lines.. as well as the home upgrades. What do you guys think?
Great President ... maybe on your planet. Not on this one.
This is a pretty superficial analysis that Dr. Drew is doing. He doesn't even know her that well. And neither Todd Palin nor Sarah Palin are able to articulate their feelings so far as I've seen. I've seen nothing but anger from Sarah Palin.
So, it's not really right to blame it on the parents' "busyness," but more on trauma and poor quality parenting that probably goes back generations.
Dr. Drew doesn't talk much about his feelings either. Skilled mental health professionals are relational; they are able to relate their own experience. He seems more like a zealot who has a little knowledge and causes damage with it.
Are emotional health problems something we need to address as a culture? Yes. Does Dr. Drew help with awareness of this? Yes, but he could do much more if he would learn to stand down, incorporate other mental health professionals as equals (including people who have certifications in psychotherapy, psychology, family systems, sociology, etc) rather than trying to be dominant all the time, and be relational with the patients rather than dogmatic, aggressive and superficially diagnosing them when he barely knows them.
Yeah, it's funny how the really dumb thought Obama was so smart. Oops, I guess that blows your theory on smart people leaning to the left. I guess they just THINK they're smart. Oh how gullible they are.
Most of us still feel Obama is very smart. It's hard to be smart and accomplish things when you are constantly being blocked by stupid people.
She named her child Tripp... I think thats all that needs to be said.
I have to get a kick out of Proud To Be an American lashing out hatefully at liberals because they're "haters". I'm just curious if they have mirrors or irony where you live. Bristol is just a kid, a fairly bright, pretty young lady, with a child, but still a child herself. While I believe her mother is self-serving, out of touch, ignorant, and a great detriment to the GOP (not to mention the country's image), at least Bristol has some real-life experience and maybe a level of empathy that her egomaniac mother could only envy (if she even had the capability to understand such concepts). I never believed in an anti-Christ or apocalypse until that woman became the hero of the far-right. She's way scarier than Damien from the Omen. Can't you just picture her turning into a hideous demon (you know, on the outside, too)?
All Palins should be aborted.