Yesterday evening, singer Fabrizio Faniello spoke out on live, prime time TV about his battle against drug addiction and this morning the Internet broke. For a change, the voice on social media is united in empathy and approval.

Lest I be misunderstood, I will spell it out at the offset. Yes, all respect goes to Fabrizio, both for having the will to fight a strong addiction and for making this fight public. Both steps require admirable guts, make no mistake about it.

But I could not help notice the contrast between the general attitude towards someone whom we consider 'famous' and that towards any random Joe.

I would like to say that I have seen the same empathy that is being extended (and rightly so, I repeat) to Fabrizio being extended to other unknowns who are battling against the same demons as the singer.

Unfortunately, in my experience this is not so. The majority's reactions towards people who are not famous and who have a drug problem mostly involve condemnation and not compassion.

Whenever I have written features that highlight the valuable work carried out by support agencies like Caritas, the strongest reactions from those who are lucky enough to have never been touched by drug addiction were not positive ones. More than empathy, the topic inspired a sense of superiority in people, the mistaken belief that they have a right to judge and, worse, to shun.

I have had readers contact me to ask why we "waste money on these junkies".

I have had others react to my writings by telling me that this is a problem drug addicts brought upon themselves and that "they deserve all they get".

When it comes to callous reactions I've heard them all; families should be held responsible and should foot the bill for any treatments; anyone caught using drugs should do jail time; free medical care should be withdrawn and so on and so cruelly forth.

But, of course, a famous name carries more weight than that of your average Joe - particularly if that famous name happens to be a guest on a popular TV show. So I was hardly surprised that the reactions to Fabrizio's story were the polar opposite of the reactions that an unknown 18-year-old  experiencing the same sufferings has to face on a daily basis.

Let us hope that, next time one of us comes face-to-face with a sufferer who lacks the glamour of a popular singer, we will show the same compassion that everyone showed today.

Because if we don't, then it doesn't say much about us as human beings, does it?