Recommendations of the Editorial team
On the tenth anniversary of the death of David Bowie, who died on January 10, 2016 at the age of 69, there were all kinds of homages all over the world to the visionary and great artist, “who repeatedly broke creatively with conventions, played with gender fluidity and thrilled his audience with fictional characters like Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Sane,” as ZDF introduced their Bowie documentary.
So far, his relationship with his two children has been less in the spotlight: Duncan Jones (born 1971 as “Zowie Bowie”) has been working in the international sci-fi film business for years.
Alexandria “Lexi” Zahra Jones, born in 2000, the daughter of his marriage to Iman, had not yet attracted attention in showbiz as a dazzling “Nepo Baby”.
A life in therapeutic facilities
As various US media reports, Lexy talks about her youth and her time in several therapeutic facilities in a long Instagram video. The now 25-year-old describes “dehumanizing” experiences – during a difficult phase in which her father was already seriously ill with cancer. Mother Iman is largely ignored.
Jones says she began therapy before she was 10 years old after her parents and teachers noticed “changes” in her. There were the first anxiety attacks; Added to this were depression and falling school performance. Bulimia followed at the age of twelve – she started cutting herself at the age of eleven. Out of anger, fear and being overwhelmed by her father’s illness, she also resorted to alcohol and drugs.
The “Wilderness” program
Finally, one morning she was picked up from her parents’ house by two men. Father David had previously read her a message that ended with the words that he was sorry “that we have to do this.” Against her will, she was sent to a so-called “wilderness” program.
Everyday life there consisted of simple accommodation, cooking over an open fire and strict rules. New participants were initially not allowed to speak; contact with the outside world was only possible through approved letters. We showered once a week; There were no mirrors or clocks. Parts of the therapy were helpful, but others were emotionally overwhelming. Above all, the solidarity among the girls gave her a certain amount of support. She did not experience physical violence – unlike many others.
Utah: Isolation and a New Friendship
After three months, Lexy was transferred to an inpatient facility in Utah, where she remained for over a year. There, too, there were strict controls and sometimes bans on speaking for weeks, which she found to be solitary confinement. At the same time, she made a close friendship there and deepened her passion for art through a teacher.
Bowie’s death – and she wasn’t there
Meanwhile, her father’s health continued to deteriorate. Jones reports that she spoke to him on the phone shortly before his death and expressed her love to him. When Bowie died in January 2016, she was still in the program and away from her family. She was particularly struck by the press release that he died surrounded by his entire family.
Returns and relapses
After returning home, the newfound freedom initially overwhelmed her. She relapsed and was sent to a facility again. The repeated change gave her the feeling that she was “a problem that was being passed on.”
With her video she wants to show the impact such programs can have on young people – and which parts of their personality are lost in the process of being “repaired”. At the same time, she emphasizes that the experiences have shaped her. She had to learn early on to deal with healing and is now redefining this process for herself.
Spotlight on the “Troubled Teen Industry”
Lexy’s video message also shines a spotlight on the “troubled teen industry” in the USA, through which overwhelmed and mostly very well-off parents get rid of their unfortunate children. Apparently, career is far more important here than the family values that are so often invoked.
