Most if not all rehabs by their very nature are private places. They are forbidden to list any of their patients online, or even to tell someone calling the name of someone staying there.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), oversees many if not all of the rehabs in the nation and they have strict policies for their accreditation. The Cirque Lodge in Utah is where Lindsay Lohan just checked in. She will [most likely] sit in groups with other addicts, go to individual counseling, attend some meetings and try to stay sober. The very same thing happens in other rehabs around the country that don’t cost 36k a week.
Do you think celebrities want to check into these high priced rehabs for privacy or because they think they are somehow better than your run-of-the-mill rehabs? An addict is an addict is an addict. Whether you are from Yale or jail, you have the very same problem - Addiction. Having worked in a rehab, and knowing what it means to live a sober life, I wonder why stars pay so much money over what their insurance will pay for to get the “very best” care they can.
Perhaps they love their celebrity status. Maybe they think they will fit in better in a high priced place? Maybe they think they can stay sober by expending thousands of dollars.
Why do you think they check into the posh rehabs?
Personally, I’ve been around enough alcoholics that most need every drink they are going to drink before they take sobriety seriously. It’s tough for these young celebrities, all those high priced parties, all that temptation for fun drugs and alcohol…it takes a lot of will power to say, …“Nah…I’ll have a Diet Pepsi…” instead of a Grey Goose Martini…
My guess is that they are concerned with what sort of riff raff they might have to associate with in regular rehab. Also the accommodations at the one you linked to look like they might be just a tad more comfy than your basic Downtown Detox. Actually getting sober is only one item on the agenda. Not everyone is Betty Ford.
Probably since they can afford luxury (nice rooms, great food, top-notch recreation), there’s no reason to avoid it, rehab or no. A lot of (most?) celebrities are narcissists, so that’s where the publicity-seeking comes in.
That’s not to say I think they all alert the media about their plans to undergo treatment.
I’d bet a lot of celebrities, or at least famous people, go to rehab and we don’t hear about it until they get out. And maybe some of them choose more mundane rehab centers, based on a reputation for effectiveness rather than ass-kissing.
Privacy. Sure they want the press to know they’re going to sober up, but they want to be assured that their fellow rehabbers won’t squeal on them. If they’re in fancy places, the other people there will be rich and (probably) not out to make a buck. Regular folk in commoners’ rehab, especially those who still have a ‘need money, will do anything’ mindset that often goes hand-in-hand with addiction, may be more likely to tell all.
I think you underestimate the lengths to which some people – paparrazzi, fans and detractors – will go to get close to a celebrity. A run-of-the-milll rehab center is not prepared, security-wise, to protect all of its patients from the invasive and aggressive tactics used by people who are just dying to talk to and/or photograph a star.
My sister ended up in one of those. I think its TOUGHER to get sober (and I’ve said this here before) when you are sitting next to a supermodel at lunch.
(And even at five figures a week, the food still sucked).
By the way, there was still “riff-raff” in the schmoozy center, it was just the riff-raff that had been spawned by wealthy parents and pulled from the gutter (again) to go through treatment.
I was going to say the same thing. There is still riff-raff at the wealthy places. I’ve seen plenty Old Money New England Yankees who have blown out their septum from a cocaine habit that would kill a small horse.
In addition it’s really unfortunate that these young people who are trying to get sober - and old ones too/ Nick Nolte - have their faces all over tabloids and the news with the most reprehensible photos of them at the most low of times. They are low enough trying to deal with alcohol or drug addiction, couple that with paparazzi taking photos of them cutting all their hair off or puking in a Masarati… No wonder the relapse rate is so high with celebrities. Shit it’s high with us regular folks too.
It’s a privacy issue- I have been sitting in meetings in rehabs next to celebrities and rock stars, and it’s hard for them to have a bunch of people off the street show up at the next meeting because the whole world found out they were there (yes, some treatment facilities have outside access, or bring meetings or panels into the facility).
I think I went through a great rehab facility, and a fair number of well-known types got sober there as well. But generally, a celeb wants to be somewhere private and safe from prying eyes. Can’t say I blame them, but I do worry about some of these places- one gal I met talked about “Egyptian cotton sheets that didn’t keep me sober.”