Acclimatise to fame, however, and you face awhole new set of challenges, according to Rockwell. “The sad part of the adaptation is that if you are famous, your brain becomes accustomed to all of that attention, that adoration and all of those eyes on you,” she says.
Whether from the flash of acamera or the thrill of athousand Instagram likes, for the brain this translates to aco*cktail of feelgood chemicals such as serotonin (which at abasic level leads to feelings of wellbeing and happiness), endorphins (that reduce your perception of pain) and dopamine (which is often characterised as the body’s own chemical “pleasure” producer). The brain adapts to this, which may be part of the reason why celebrities grow accustomed to their level of fame.
“Your neurons get used to acertain level of excitation and stimulation,” says Dr Rockwell. “And then, forevermore, you kind of want it to be at that level.” When the fame begins to wane, it can, then, be difficult to adjust.
“Another person in my study is an R&B superstar around the world. She’s older now,” adds Dr Rockwell. “She says to me that when she walks down the street in her town, people recognise her and point her out, but now they say: ‘Hey, didn’t you used to be…?’” Rockwell recently bumped into the R&B star at awedding. “The person she was there with was afan. Alot of these people are friends with fans because that’s the kind of level of ‘specialness’ and validation they expect.
“Ultimately, when it goes away, there is this craving after what once was. But,” she concludes, “you cannot stay in that bright light of fame at its original luminosity forever.” Fame is fleeting, but at least if Elon Musk tires of celebrity he has afleet of spaceships to play with. Perhaps he had it right all along: shoot for the moon, land among the stars.
