tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post2071258548074631115..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Does Rehab Work?Stuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-2864958919834253692013-08-02T14:48:52.710-07:002013-08-02T14:48:52.710-07:00I had a psych breakdown in the 80s. Partly from VN...I had a psych breakdown in the 80s. Partly from VN PTSD - an affliction I've only recently allowed myself to claim.<br /><br />At the time, my health insurance paid for 6 weeks of ETOH Rehab. So that's where a shrink I'd never met before sent me for. I was Discharged (if that's the word) the very day my insurance ended.<br /><br />The experience was a revelation. It was like a Chinese Re-Education Camp w/better food. Fascistic Mind Control, arrogant "counselors", tremendous peer pressure. I'm still v bitter about it.<br /><br />I struck up a friendship w/a Psych Clinical Ph.D. candidate there. He told me the "success rate" was 3 to 5% - at best. Maybe less.<br /><br />Upon his death, Socrates asked for a sacrifice to the god of medicine. In gratitude for releasing him from the disease of life.<br /><br />We have too many Health Nazis as rulers. Many have despicable personal lives. They don't deserve the power. -- Rich Lara Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-58760172184709429872013-07-31T14:34:53.733-07:002013-07-31T14:34:53.733-07:00Of course the rehab industry wants to churn the pa...Of course the rehab industry wants to churn the patients. In Minnesota, the state will pay for rehab if you're indigent. It even has a slang name: Rule 25.<br /><br />Judges like it, because when someone comes in front of them for their 10th minor drug charge, the judge can order rehab, and dismiss the case. Out of sight (for 28 days) and out of mind.<br /><br />I am an addict. I have not been through rehab (when I wanted it, they said I made too much money for Rule 25). I have met other addicts who have been through rehab 25 (twenty-five, I'm not kidding) times. It's almost a bragging point.<br /><br />And there are, indeed, rehab centers here which have as little therapy or programming as possible. House them, feed them, collect the check, and out the door. These joints are also utterly willing to fudge paperwork to admit people from out of state. No one verifies residency.<br /><br />As Dr. Bliss wrote, rehab itself is useless without the will to stay clean (or sober). AA, NA and all the other As provide members with a set of tools. It's up to the member to take up the tools and use them.Gordon Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16772014586181361069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-28681766342755768742013-07-31T04:37:07.640-07:002013-07-31T04:37:07.640-07:00Maybe they're just churning the addicts for th...<i>Maybe they're just churning the addicts for the bucks. </i><br /><br />Considering many state laws require insurance companies to cover rehab treatments, then yes, this is highly possible. That is - why do you care if it works if you can get paid for it no matter what?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-48710444769334586702013-07-30T20:14:28.476-07:002013-07-30T20:14:28.476-07:00A non-judgmental attitude is an addict’s best frie...A non-judgmental attitude is an addict’s best friend. If you destigmatize addiction you are inevitably going to get more of it. If you convince people that there is nothing they can do, of their own volition, to control their bad habit, they are not going to try.<br />- - - - - - - - - - <br />This is a capsule summary of the gay-rights movement.Ben Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-78885859246395419622013-07-30T17:46:28.727-07:002013-07-30T17:46:28.727-07:00When I was in rehab (the first time) I asked the c...When I was in rehab (the first time) I asked the chief counselor about the recidivism rate and was told quite curtly "we don't keep track of that". I replied I was somewhat confused as they had no way of monitoring the efficacy of their program. I have since learned all the mainstream rehab centers have similar programs but seem universally uninterested in improving the model. Maybe they're just churning the addicts for the bucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-83044484472246168682013-07-28T13:21:57.981-07:002013-07-28T13:21:57.981-07:00You gotta be in it to win it, whether its AA, reha...You gotta be in it to win it, whether its AA, rehab or whatever. I am very skeptical of the justice system requiring such "remedies," because they are so wasteful. You're not going to win a battle with addiction if you don't want to win, regardless of reasons.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-41050379241337526122013-07-28T09:57:05.979-07:002013-07-28T09:57:05.979-07:00I suspect that much of this stems from not believi...I suspect that much of this stems from not believing one is worthy of the accolades they are receiving. If one gets their accolades from being a movie star then that is in playing people who really accomplished great things, fought against overwhelming odds and meet the challenges of life.<br />It probably is some what disheartening that when one puts the accomplishments they have garnered against that of the people played it seems unfair and lacks a certain amount of justice. Feelings of inadequacies can drive people to find ways of dealing with it that almost always leads to destructive behaviors. Without the audience one is no longer an entertainer.<br />I would posit that rehab does not work, given the amount of recidivism prevalent, because it does not deal with the problems that are extant. Until one can see that their life has value over and above a career then rehab, given its failures, only is a brief respite from it. It is important, especial in the Arts, to have other avenues of growth so one leads a complete life. One has to be vigilant not to let the job define them.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-79069946083451554082013-07-28T04:50:34.901-07:002013-07-28T04:50:34.901-07:00Why? why? why?Why? why? why?Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-85417462255332037942013-07-27T14:51:08.400-07:002013-07-27T14:51:08.400-07:00No, no, noNo, no, noAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-52224157619022148762013-07-27T09:44:38.129-07:002013-07-27T09:44:38.129-07:00"If celebrities, as has often been argued, ar..."If celebrities, as has often been argued, are gluttons for attention, if they fear anonymity more than anything else, making fools of themselves in public serves a psychic purpose."<br /><br />And a business purpose. Making a name for oneself is (IMO) the single most difficult thing in entertainment and the arts. Performers who have succeeded in establishing their name are respected by others in their industry for this accomplishment alone. <br /><br />(FWIW, I recall reading that when Andy Griffith found that his phone had stopped ringing, he called his agent and asked if he ought to contrive to get himself arrested.)<br /><br />For politicians, it seems rehab has an entirely other purpose: washing the slate clean while eliciting public sympathy. Supporters and friendly media can then endorse without reference to addictions and criminality because rehab has magically put all that in the past.Lastangonoreply@blogger.com