rehab - part II

(Continued)
So I grew up in rehab, sort of. As I mentioned in the earlier post, my mother worked there and I was occasionally exposed to the people that have been through their own personal hell and managed to find their way back. As a child I always wondered how someone could get so far into something like that and not find their way out. It’s so easy for those of us looking in from the outside. We wonder why they can’t just stop. How does this happen? I wanted to know. I always compared it in my mind to Hansel and Gretel: temptation, fear, and being suddenly overpowered and out of control. Then, in the final stages, when all hope seems lost you take drastic measures. Hitting rock bottom enables an individual to push the proverbial witch into the oven and escape.
It was always like a secret society to me. They were only known by their first name and maybe their last initial. My mother could not discuss their stories with me. As I sit here today and write these words the subject still fascinates me.
When I heard about a show called Intervention. I couldn’t wait to watch it. Not because I get enjoyment out of other people’s pain but because I had this desire to finally get to know the “how”. Intervention promised to take me on the journey and show me how bad it gets before people are willing to accept help. They came through on their promise. I was speechless. I cried. It was beyond what I could have ever imagined addiction could be. I was so thankful for those people for having the courage to share their stories. I wondered how many people were sitting at home watching the show and decided to make the decision to get help for themselves because the reflection staring back at them was just too eerily familiar.
VH1 decided to have their own rehab show. I was skeptical. I was almost a little pissed off. I have seen the circus that is created after they add the prefix of “Celeb” to anything they produce. It was almost a disservice to show to name it “Celebrity Rehab”. To me, it just seemed to minimize a very serious subject. They promised to take me on the journey of the actual rehabilitation process. Despite my trepidations, I had to tune in. Not only because it was about rehab but because it had Dr Drew Pinsky. I felt he would keep it real. They came through with their promise. I was speechless. I cried. I thought it was more poignant because they are the celebrities that we think we already know. They discussed the issues of maintaining their imagine while still trying to control the uncontrollable. I think it brought home the reality that the more they tried to pretend as if everything is OK the worse the addiction became. I also learned that addiction is more than just drugs and alcohol. The show addresses the fact that there are many types of addiction out there and they all stem from the same place. That was very sobering (so to speak). The people on this season’s show are amazing. If you have watched it from the first episode up until now… you know exactly what I am talking about. With each passing episode you see the clarity in their eyes. You watched them as they begin to feel emotions that they always tried to subdue with their drug of choice. It is like watching a newborn baby experience life for the first time. However, it’s not always joyous. Sometimes they come out of the fog and they are forced to see the mess they have created and they don’t want to face it. Dr Drew said something that totally made it all make sense. He told them that essentially what they were going through a period of grief. They are grieving for that monster that they became so dependent on that is now gone. There is an emptiness and they now have to work through it and build a stronger foundation, one that is not dependent on external stimulus to thrive. I think it is so important that he guides them through those stages of grief and reassures them that it is a normal thing, it sucks, but its normal! It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I have both admiration and fear for them. I am shocked but not always surprised. As when “Shifty” from last season showed up in the last episode looking like he was about 30 lbs less the man that he used to be, strung out on crack. That is the reality of addiction. Sometimes rehab works and it gets people back on their feet to give it another go; yet sometimes they fall. This show was not afraid to show that aspect of it and I admire them even more for including it in their program. I continue to tune in weekly because I am just amazed …simply amazed.