Celebrity Rehab
The very earliest drug rehabilitation was celebrity rehab. There were treatment facilities for the very rich long before rehabilitation became accepted as a medical treatment or even programs like AA began to reach the common man.
It was really money that spurred celebrity rehab. When a person without financial resources had a substance abuse problem, they might very well find themselves fending for themselves, but the celebrities could afford to pay to have treatment. Some of the earliest drug rehab centers were started to cater to movie stars and other famous people whose lifestyles had careened out of control. This was called “drying out”, and was in some ways a very primitive way.
Often the purpose of celebrity rehab was to get the person sober and back out into the same high pressure, high income, environment that led to the substance abuse in the first place. The celebrity represented an investment and the investment needed to be protected as much as possible. Although there were certainly some success stories in this early form of celebrity rehab, there were even more failures and relapse.
In recent years, as treatment techniques and understanding of addiction has increased dramatically, the success rate of celebrity rehab has increased as well. In fact, from a treatment point of view, celebrity rehab is no different than any other type of rehab with the possible exception that the surrounding might be a bit plusher and the price tag quite a bit higher. However, it is often the frills that result in the higher price, not the mode of treatment.
This fact was brought home dramatically in 2008 with the airing of a reality TV show called “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” This show took a group of celebrities with various substance abuse problems and filmed their entire rehab process from intake to discharge. The group included such well know celebrities as actress Brigitte Nielson. Many of the techniques of drug rehabilitation, especially the integrated type, were illustrated dramatically during the show. The show pointed out that despite the causative factors that led to the addiction, the individual needed to accept responsibility for their own sobriety.
Celebrity rehab will continue to be a headliner maker as many young and talented stars of the entertainment and sports world deal with problems created by having too much too fast. The high pressured lifestyle of the celebrity and the almost unlimited paychecks does not encourage sobriety. On the other hand, substance abuse is not a problem of the rich and famous, but a condition impacting all of us regardless of station in life or level of fame. Drug rehab continues to play an important role in combating this problem even as “celebrity rehab” captures the headlines.