Rehabilitation is tough, and challenging, and only those that have completed it, know what it's like.
Many people have read the headline of Celebrity Rehab alumni country singer Mindy McCready and her drug addiction and subsequent suicide two days ago after she left treatment. She is one of thousands that have not been able to sustain their recovery outside of a treatment center. Celebrity Rehab, by the way, is only 21 days of treatment when other treatment centers require 30 days or more.
Longer treatment tends to lend better sustainable recovery and gives a patient the opportunity to work on issues, such as mental illness and other types of addictions, along with one-on-one counseling with a therapist that can offer assistance with looking at past traumas and abuse, to include painful events not dealt with previously.
Thinking in reference to Celebrity Rehab, I would think it would be difficult at best, to have millions watching as you share your painful story in group therapy regarding the degradation and painful losses as the result of drinking/drug addiction. However, some celebs are only there for a paycheck, which is a crying shame for those who are really there to get well. Engaging in treatment takes courage and strength to really want to change your life. It is tough for anyone to voice many private thoughts and emotions in treatment, never mind on television. What I do know for sure is that many people in treatment, whether it be short or long-term care, do have a difficult time with the “stigma” given of those dealing with this particular type of disease.
"For whatever reason, there's this incredible fascination with people while they're actively using and living their lives in addiction, and we really think it doesn't belong on our TV screens," Patricia Taylor, executive director of Faces & Voices of Recovery, an advocacy group for people in recovery. We don't have shows with people with cancer or diabetes or other health conditions," she said.
Taylor said that people not wanting to get treatment because they are afraid of how others will perceive them is an issue with many people, not just celebrities. Also included, is a fear of what is to come and how to live without drinking or drugging, which can prove to be very overwhelming.
"We are very concerned about the deaths and unfortunately too many people in America are dying from addiction, and we really need to make sure to make it possible for people to get the help that they need to recover," she said.
On Faces & Voices of Recovery web page, there is a Recovery Bill of Rights, which is a statement of the principle that all Americans have a right to recover from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It was developed and adopted by Faces & Voices of Recovery‘s board of directors and has been endorsed by allied national organizations. We call on all Americans and our elected officials to take action to build communities of recovery that will support the more than 22 million Americans and their families still needing help and to end discrimination facing millions in long-term recovery.
Let's carry on this message...many lives may depend on it.
Source: Faces & Voices of Recovery
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