Did Depression Push Leslie Carter Over the Edge?

Friends say Leslie Carter's lackluster career fueled her depression and dependence on prescription drugs.

A source says that Leslie Carter’s inability to match her brothers’ superstardom was a huge factor for her depression and pill-popping.

While it’s a fact that Leslie Carter, 25, died of a drug overdose on Jan. 31, what drove her to do so is unclear. A source, however, tells People that her envy to be in the limelight was a major reason she fell into a downward spiral.

“She thought she would become the next famous Carter sibling,” states a former manager to one of her brothers.

Although Leslie “loved the attention” she received from the family’s brief stint with reality on E!’s House of Carters and had a single released on Shrek 3‘s soundtrack, fame didn’t hit her the way it did with older brother Nick, 32, and younger bro, Aaron Carter, 22.

“She was always happy for her brothers, don’t get me wrong,” the source says. “But it was tough for her.”

Regardless, Leslie’s stepmom, Ginger, believes she had much darker issues to deal with, claiming the young mom “had a long history of mental illness and was on medication for her depression.”

Jacked from Hollywood Life