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RSS FeedCelebrity rehab on TV: Can celebrities recover from addictions while the camera watches?
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| Yes | 27% | 54 votes | Total: 198 votes | |
| No | 73% | 144 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhen "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" first premiered, I had doubts. I thought this was simply another exploitative reality TV shows, designed to take someone's suffering and turn it into entertainment for the masses. But when I happened stumble upon an episode, I found myself riveted by the genuine emotions and struggle that was happening in the rehabilitation facility.
Suddenly this wasn't about exploiting human suffering, but about acknowledging it and empowering those who were suffering. It was about educating the general population to the complexities of addiction, and how to deal with such a crippling disease. There was a sensitivity in how the daily struggles of the celebrity addicts was presented and a raw openness with how issues were raised and addressed. The show was very similar to A&E's critically acclaimed docu-series, Intervention.
As Dr. Drew had once remarked, "we are only as sick as our secrets," so this show has demonstrated with celebrity addicts. Yes, at times the camera can feel intrusive and it's uncomfortable watching someone confess to traumatic childhood abuse. But at the same time, there was an understanding and respect that can develop between viewers and the celebrity addict.
Take for instance, Brigitte Nielsen, once famous for being a bombshell and the ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone, and pro football star, Mark Gastineau.. Her image in the press was that of a manipulative gold digger. But on celebrity rehab, we got to meet a sensitive, repentant woman, who was torn up about how her addiction was affecting her children. We got to see how she struggled with her addictions while living the so-called high life. She was a real person, with flaws and vulnerbilities, like the rest of us. In the end, when she managed to attain and keep her sobriety, it was a joyful moment for everyone.
In the rehab center, the celebrities were accepted as they are - addicts who needed help. There was no pecking order, no A-lists, no image to uphold. In fact, Dr. Drew regularly got them to "get real" and tell him (and the others) about who they really were, behind their so-called public images. Not surprisingly, many of the celebrities had trouble with this, often finding comfort in the image they had created for themselves as it served as a buffer between the world and their real, suffering, vulnerable selves. In a way then, it could be argued that by having these celebrities really be themselves in front of the camera for the first time was an important first step in their recovery since more often than not, it was the fake image that often contributed to their addiction.
Of course there were moments where some celebrities were clearly playing to the camera. Jeff Conway (now back again for another stint on the second season of the show) comes to mind, along with his enabling, co-dependent girlfriend Vicki. Jeff didn't seem to have a real desire to get clean, and his progress (or lack thereof) reflected that. While it could be argued that Jeff couldn't play to the cameras if they weren't there, it could also be noted that one of the primary lesson learned in rehab is that one must have a real desire to get better.
I doubt that if Jeff Conway had been at some other rehab centers (and he had stated that he has tried rehab before, without cameras) his prognosis would have been different. It was clear that he didn't really have the desire kick his addiction completely, and the fact that his girlfriend seemed to be sabotaging him didn't help. So the cameras could hardly be blamed for that. Likewise, I dont' doubt that Brigitte Nielsen would have gotten clean and sober at some other rehab center because she clearly had the desire to combat her addiction. It's no coincidence that she's still clean and sober now, and no cameras have been following her around since the first seaosn wrapped up.
In the end, addiction is a complicated disease and battling it isn't as simple as "best done in private" or "let the public watch." As any addict will tell you, the desire to use is constant and anything, absolutely anything, can make an addict want to use. So the mere presence or absence of cameras in an addict's recovery is oversimplifying a complex and protracted process.
Learn more about this author, Katie Lee.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Addiction, be it to alcohol or drugs can destroy ones career and tragically, ones life in the process. We have witnessed the demise of many talented actors,comedians,sin ger/songwriters and hopefuls, who lived with private addictions and who died alone, many alone due to overdose.
There career could have been the driving force behind their addiction or the addiction could have manifest itself before their success.
To be a celebrity today, is to live your life like an open book. Adoring fans demand to know your every move, who your dating, where you live, where you shop and so on. There is no longer the privilege of privacy and the public can be extremely fickle especially when the tabloids exploit every little detail of a celebrities life. It seems relationship controversy, eating disorders, alcohol or substance abuse and aggressive public outbursts, sells and the public buys it.
Tabloids will pay premium prices for pictures of celebrities, in all manner of dress or undress; is it no wonder we have people dying to get the perfect shot?
It is all so flattering in the beginning, when fame is new. Many young celebrities just can't get enough exposure, they become addicted to fame. They will expect to see their image in the latest tabloid or magazine and if they don't, they will complain to their publicist!
Yes, almost everyone who is anyone in "the business" has a publicist, and they are essential for a celebrity. Public exposure is key in maintaining the celebrity's name on the lips and in the psyche of all their fans, as well as any casting directors or producers in the market for a particular look or talent.
In the world of celebrity, if they aren't talking about you anymore than you no longer exist!
This causes many celebrities especially of the younger set, to create their own news headlines, be it positive or negative! There are web pages, such as "my space" where fans create celebrity spaces for their idols. There they can flaunt their celebs fashions, post flattering pictures, the latest gossip, movie, or music video. They can chat about their favorite celebrity incessantly because that happens to be their favorite subject! It can become quite obsessive and addictive to those who create and maintain these fan websites. Some celebrities instant rise to fame can sometimes cause irreparable damage if they get caught up in the hype and take it too seriously.
Attention getting behavior is imminent if a celebrity feels they are losing popularity. Some will use their problems such as eating disorders, or drug use to maintain the publics focus on them. They feel they must maintain a public persona to stay on top in the very competitive entertainment industry.
There are those celebrities who know the pressures of living in the limelight can take a toll on their personal lives. They have learned how to maintain some measure of privacy, while not denying their fans a peek now and then into their private lives.
It becomes a delicate balance of give and take, the celebrity who has difficulty drawing the line between the role they play, the image, as opposed to who they really are, will have problems.
The lines become blurred and they will become lost in the made up fairytale land of glamor, fame and fortune. A world where drugs and alcohol are just a part of the scene and where everyones doing it. It is such a very seductive lifestyle, and some need much more guidance than others on how to keep a lucrative career and still maintain a healthy lifestyle with a positive self image.
Alcohol plays a prominent role in a celebrity's lifestyle; it is served during awards dinners, presentations, film festivals, "after parties", also when just plain socializing with friends and/or relatives.
A celebrity with an addiction cannot recover while under the scrutiny of the public and the fans who maintain a loyal following. Those celebrities who agree to have their struggle documented are deluding themselves, they are playing another role subconsciously this time.
A celebrity who is exposed as having an addiction can feel humiliated or shame, and if they choose to go into treatment only because they have been caught, than, they will not be successful in abstaining from their addiction.
When the camera's rolling and the fans are all eyes, the celebrity will play the part, all to please their public.
Recovering from any addiction can only be successful when the person who is addicted finally says,
enough!
Whether a celebrity or not, one must want to stop using for themselves, not because someone else wants them too, or to clean up a public reputation.
Recovery must be done in private, especially if you are a celebrity!
It is essential to have only positive, empathetic, experienced medical and social personal assisting one in this most critically important, life altering, and emotionally draining experience. It may take years to fully recover from an addiction. The first week or two of withdrawals are the most critical, if one cannot endure it, they will fail and start using again.
This is why it is so critically important to want to quit, because in the end,
whether you use or not, is really up to you.
Learn more about this author, Sandra Lynn.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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