Lohan, Spears making mockery of rehab
This article for Reuters caught my attention the other day:
Lohan, Spears Making Mockery of Rehab: Experts
By Michelle Nichols, Jul 25, 2007 NEW YORK (Reuters) -Celebrities like actress Lindsay Lohan and pop star Britney Spears are making a mockery of rehabilitation programs by appearing not to take treatment seriously, U.S. addiction experts warned.
Lohan was arrested on Tuesday on a second drunken-driving charge just days after leaving her second stint in rehab flaunting an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet at nightclubs.
“It is making a mockery of rehabs,” said Harris Stratyner, a psychologist with Caron, a nonprofit addiction treatment organization.“In some ways it’s starting to make rehabs look like a joke and that’s very sad because hundreds of thousands of people a year are saved.” (full article)
Is Ms. Nichols, writing for Reuters and ABC (above) missing the point? Spears and Lohan are 1) NOT starting to make rehabs look like a joke because most of them are a joke. And, 2) Are rehabs really saving thousands of people a year?
Once upon a time, rehabilitation centers where the alcohol and drug addicted were sent to pay penance and “rehabilitate”, were the only viable course of treatment for those suffering. Rehabs were the only life raft in the water and if you or a loved one was drowning it was darn good to have it floating there. But how successful are these thirty, sixty, ninety day retreats from life? True, most people who enter rehabs are on a crash course with destruction and when they get “inside” find it easy to obey the rules. They don’t drink or use drugs while inside the walls of the defended castle.
The problem is, when that drawbridge is lowered, and the newly sober wander back out into the real world - the dragons are waiting: available drugs and alcohol, old friends, old problems.
That’s why the most conservative statistics suggest that at least 85% of those who have enjoyed inpatient care relapse. 85%!
So what is the answer?
For now, certainly in the care and treatment of individuals who have become dependent on opiates like heroin, oxycontin, vicodin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, norco, lortab, etc., outpatient treatment is a viable solution. Medications (Such as Suboxone) now exist that can alter the neuro-chemistry of the brain (Science of Addiction - NIDA) eliminating withdrawal symptoms and cravings with medical protocols that will allow patients to detox from these drugs safely and comfortably while going about their lives.
Patients discover that they do not have to stop their life in order to save it. They feel well, have energy, are not impaired, and remain fully functional, able to work. However, they are not tempted to use opiates and are protected while going through the detox process and starting the recovery process. Patients find themselves suddenly in their lives and feeling better and saying to themselves, “Hey, I like myself like this. What do I have to do keep this up?” And the answer is exactly what is being said in all those high priced rehab centers - counseling and 12 step work. Patients can go about their lives, reorganizing the with support to help them find the tools to deal with their stress and fears, found at home and in the workplace, NON-NARCOTICALLY!
What makes more sense to you - inpatient rehabilitation or getting off the meds while getting on with your life?
Let’s see what Lindsay has to say about rehab:
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