Andrea - suicide or overdose?

certainly a heroin overdose.

I think Andrea's OD was in the film to show Gwen realizing how dangerous Jasper is for her, and how poignant Cornell’s speech is.

"This isn't a way to live. This is a way to die."

I don't think she committed suicide. I think the director made every effort to make it clear that it was her drug addiction that killed her. After the "suicide", Cornell counsels Gwen, stating that Andrea did not kill herself, she used. One of the other staff members announces Andrea's death makes her scared, because she has heard so many people say "I just want to use one more time", and that Andrea's "one more time" is what killed her.

Gwen looks at that monkey a friend of Andrea’s sent with heroin, and sees Jasper bringing her Vicodin. Someone sent Andrea drugs because they knew she wanted them. It was a loving act by someone who didn’t think about the consequences. Gwen starts to notice parallels in her relationship with Jasper.

I think she commited suicide because she was leaving in few days to a home where the mom couldn't even visit her. Her packing her bags made me think that she planned the whole thing.

*Down with Yates*

Accidental OD is VERY common in people who relapse after being off heroin for a time. Addicts can't gage how much they need to get high...they use the amount they USED to be able to take (after building up a tolerance) and they die by accident. I do not believe it was suicide for this reason.


"I never drink...wine."

I believe it was an accidental overdose. When I say accident, addicts never know when the next time they use if it will kill them or not. Heroin is a slippery slope You never know what amount is in the drug when you use it, if it has been cut with something or if it is pure. It is usually never pure. In the movie after her accidental overdose it was plainly stated that the reason why she died is because she used. That is why addicts need to abstain for a quality of life. This was good movie showing what usually goes on in a treatment center for chemical dependance, how clients can change, and how some never do. J. CADAC

I think she overdosed.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

It isn't answered definitively, but best guess is OD. This is not an uncommon occurrence - tolerance drops off after a period of time off of heroin...person starts taking heroin again at same previous levels, but it ends up being way too much.

“There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior

I think she killed herself, because if you remember her freak-out reaction when Gwen caught her cutting and wanted to go and report it, Andrea begged her not to because: "I'll get sent to psychiatric, I can't get kicked out, I can't I can't!!".
That line strongly suggests two things: 1. Andrea desperately did not want to leave rehab and have to face the outside world (as supported by all of her other actions towards the end of the film).
2. She would not use heroin as a means to get 'caught' and thus get to stay there, because as she stated (and Steve Buscemi's character reiterated), if she was caught she would actually get kicked out early and/or sent to a psychiatric hospital, which she hated. And the rehab staff would know instantly if she'd used, and she couldn't have hidden in the bathroom until it wore off because she knew Gwen would find her, as she did when she was cutting herself. I suppose you could say her addiction was stronger than her desire to not get sent to psychiatric, but I'm not convinced.

I also second the opinion that her packing 2 days early was indicative of her plan. Getting one's affairs in order is a key psychiatric behaviour of people who are planning to commit suicide. This can consist of paying off bills, closing accounts, cleaning their house top to bottom, packing up all their things, even getting their hair cut and nails done. Doing things so that they feel properly prepared and/or so that the people they leave behind won't have to do them.

The sock monkey was bit of a curve ball, I'd never thought twice about it until someone on here commented that they think that's where her needle came from. I'm not sure if we're supposed to think that her dealer or a druggie 'friend' sent it to her to 'celebrate' the end of rehab and she took the opportunity, or if she'd asked them to so before going in so she could kill herself at the end of it if she felt she needed to (she clearly had problems long before she arrived at the facility). Or thirdly, if she had some kind of code word and used it in a letter after she was already there. That much is never made clear.



The mirror... it's broken.
Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.