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First Senator Teddy Kennedy, then Mel Gibson and Robin Williams and now Congressman Mark Foley......Three high profile individuals who have gone to rehab and faced public scrutiny. In my opinion, it is a "trend" now to blame one's possible or confirmed alcoholism and commit to rehab to make behavior "OK"...blame it on the drink or the pills or something other than one's own behavior. I shouldn't group Robin Williams in this opinion, I guess, as he did nothing to insult or endanger the public or anyone else. But, what do we make of using rehab as the answer to bad behavior, endangering behavior, etc. Congressman Foley just takes it to ridiculous levels, I think. With the grief and angony poured out onto this message site, it is just sort of disheartening to see public figures who can afford rehab enter the privacy of the institution while waiting for the public to perhaps forget their sins and oversights. These people should get into the pits and see real people struggling with the effects of substance abuse on real families who do not have the means to do as these guys have done. I have little sympathy for any of them.
I understand your point of view. But to those who seek treatment, I offer my support. I would like to think that anyone entering rehab that's not mandated is doing so, because they want to get better. I don't want to use the disease as an "excuse" for their behavior nor negate the seriousness of their actions. (It's up to them to make their amends.) But it does help to explain it.
Live strong, Karilynn
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It's your life. Take no prisoners. You will have it your way.
It would be nice if everyone could afford to go to rehab for as long as they wanted. It's too bad that when you come out you're not "cured" or "all better". I think too many of the public think that is the case and prominent people abuse that ignorance thinking they can convince people that they are better now. Be nice if those folks would open a center that's free for poor folks considering their worth - especially Mel the highest paid celebrity!! (Read that in the top ten book of 2006) he was above oprah in earnings! People like us know the reality that only 10-15% of people really get better and don't use/drink again.
sometimes (most times) i become so resentful of the attention that the a's get and everyone in the whole world ready to step up and help them. the destroyed families are a total afterthought. there are shows dedicated to getting the addicted person help as if when they get well life automatically becomes a bed of roses. reality is not that. someday maybe i will launch a show that deals only with the families of the a and maybe, just maybe seeing the chaos and pain that the disease of alcoholism creates, maybe people would be more interested in treating the FAMILY disease of alcoholism and not just the alcoholic.
looks like i have a resentment that i need to address! man, i just let a resentment go last night and here's another one! aaagggghhhh
"10. The Al-Anon Family Groups have no opinion on outside issues; hence our name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
The drunken movie stars and congressmen are outside issues... fortunately. Sometimes it causes our program(s) to be mentioned and the 11th tradition is violated:
"11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and TV. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all AA members."
Of course there's no penalty for violating the traditions. They are for us to keep, not a law book to use to control others. Hence what I perceive as a violation of tradition 11, if I filter it through tradition 10, I realize it's just not relevant to my program.
Whenever I think about "celebrety addictions" I often times think of something an oldtimer told me: "From the halls in Yale to the halls of jails, alcholism affects everyone, some how." The only difference b/t the celbreties of Hollyweird and the people that think they're celebreties is that you know the names of the people in LA; they still have to pay taxes, still have to go to the doctor for a physical every year, still have worries as far as their kids are concerned.
Having said that, it's the "they have such a cool life!" concept that creates a feeling of jelousy. And anytime I'm comparing my insides to someone else's outsides, I'll be miserable. I mean, have you ever WORKED on a film set? Or ACTED in a play? GEEZ LOUISE! It's a migrane! I was like "GET ME OUT OF HERE GOD!!! AND DON"T LET ME COME BACK!!!" There's a reason that people like John Travolta or Betty White get "Lifetime Achievement" awards: putting up with the sheer CRAP that goes on for however long filming takes, and EVERYTHING comes afterword...GEEZ
