The U.S. media has been disgraceful in its treatment of Charlie Sheen.

The fact is that this is a man in deep psychiatric distress who needs help not a nation gawking at him as some kind of freak show.

It is clear from his television interviews that he is being goaded on by the media looking for the latest manic sound bite.

In fact the Irish American actor is in deep pain and desperately in need of help. He is a richly talented man who has profoundly lost his way.

It reminds me of the circus around Michael Jackson, but the laughing stopped when he essentially killed himself with an overdose with some help from others.

There are those who love the freak show and a million people have signed up for his latest manic twitter messages in just over a day.

Like vultures to a carcass the media and public gather round

But what about his little twins who were removed from his custody yesterday? That is a profound tragedy

What about his father Martin, a true humanitarian in so many ways who is now witnessing his son self-destruct?

Charlie Sheen is actually going through hell as any person addicted to a substance eventually does.

The media is aiding and abetting his path towards a catastrophic breakdown which could end up in suicide like Jackson, Monroe and so many others.

The media needs to back off, his family needs to intervene, he needs to be safe in a psychiatric facility until someone can figure out what really ails him.

That is the sad reality of Charlie Sheen, not the freak show the media is putting on now.

His family, his kids, Sheen himself, deserves better.