Is Celebrity Rehab Effective?
Not so long ago, alcohol and drug addiction in Hollywood were considered taboo, something shameful. But now hardly a week goes by without a celebrity announcing they've checked into rehab.
Young Hollywood just loves to party but the seduction of alcohol and drugs has led many to rehab facilities like Wonderland, co-founded by Howard Samuels. It was reportedly where Lindsay Lohan went to get sober the first time.
"I have kids lining up at the door that are 19, 20, 21, that are on cocaine on a daily basis. They're doing ecstasy. They're smoking pot 24 hours a day," Samuels said.
Rehab has almost become a rite of passage. In fact, some critics complain that removing the stigma has made rehab appear cool. Combine that with spa-like facilities where they cater to Hollywood's pampered and privileged, and one can't help but wonder if rehab really is a doorway to recovery.
"Why do people have to go to a dump to get sober?" Samuels told Giuliana DePandi. "Why can't it be a beautiful environment? Don't people deserve that?"
Patients have dinner out on the patio, but even still some call it a prison.
Just last week Lohan was celebrating her 21st birthday at an alcohol-free party in Malibu. But in January while she was supposed to be in rehab, Lohan was spotted shopping, leaving many wondering if there are two types of rehab: one for regular people and one for celebrities.
"Everyone talks about celebrities like they're some kind of alien race," Samuels said. "Celebrities are people. They have fears; they have insecurities, just like everyone else."Photos: Lindsay's FINALLY Legal!
Samuels' staff will run errands with clients to help them incorporate recovery into their everyday life.
"If you don't take it out into the community, where are they going to learn it?" Samuels said. "If you just lock them up for 30 days and then let them out, it's like sheep being led to the slaughter."
An average month-long stay at Wonderland runs upwards of $40,000. Before Wonderland, Samuels ran Promises, another ritzy rehab center in Malibu where Britney Spears recently spent time, and Lohan is still an outpatient.
Now, despite evidence of bizarre behavior and excessive partying, Britney claims she didn't need help, but was forced into therapy by her mother and her manager.
"She did have a problem, an emotional problem, after her second son was born and they even realized that in rehab that some of her behavior was attributed to post-partum depression," said Ashlan Gorse, editor of Life & Style Weekly.
A recovering heroin addict, Samuels says no one wants to go into rehab and many addicts suffer from denial. According to celebrity Web sites, Spears says rehab didn't change her because there wasn't anything wrong to begin with.
"She went on a 25-day binge, going out and going to the clubs," Gorse said. "There were reports of her physically getting ill in her car and outside of clubs because she was drinking too much."
However rehab is not an excuse for bad behavior.
"These celebrities are making rehab just seem cool rather than a really important way for people to heal themselves and get better," Gorse said.
From Robert Downey Jr. To Tom Sizemore, Keith Urban, Mel Gibson and Robin Williams, recovery can be a revolving door. Now Lohan has made a birthday wish for herself.
"Just to be safe and healthy and happy and stay sober," she told members of the paparazzi.