He isn't known to be dying of anything, but he's a committed alcoholic. He most likely starts drinking shortly after he wakes up. He also smokes heavily.. The OP article paints a vivid picture of his life at the moment, and reading it reminds me of posthumous accounts of the last days of other famous Hollywood drunks. We could read tomorrow that he''s dead, is what I am saying.
Addiction is such a hard thing to overcome; Being an addict myself, I feel for anyone having problems climbing out of it. You gotta face those demons; I imagine Johnny Depp has had to face many, esp in that industry.
But it’s easy to sit behind the glass and safely make these assumptions about how bad they look and analyze the downward spirals they find themselves in to supplement their happiness; it’s so much different when you’re actually living under its control. I think sometime we forget that these are people, not case studies. It can be a hopeless nightmare.
So yeah, It’s quite possible he feels the need to have alcohol first thing in the morning. It’s real, and sometimes it’s the only thing that will get rid of the shakes. It’s a long road and I hope he finds the strength in him to turn it around.