What Goes On at Rehabs for the Stars?

Aug. 8, 2001 -- The story is all too familiar: A young star seems to have the world on a silver platter, only to be brought down by the ravages of drug or alcohol dependence.

Substance abuse is a problem that affects some 30 percent of American families, but it seems to hit harder in Hollywood.

One recent rehab check-in is Ben Affleck, who checked in a week ago for alcohol dependence and is reportedly at Promises, a sprawling, estate-like Malibu rehab center, where commedian Paula Poundstone and actors Robert Downey Jr. and Tim Allen have come for help.Too Much, Too Fast?

At 28, Affleck is already an Oscar-winning screenwriter. He teamed up with longtime friend Matt Damon, to wrote the 1997 Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting. He's now a well-established leading man, having starred in Pearl Harbor, one of the biggest releases this summer.

But for all his success at such a young age, Affleck has a tough road ahead of him. Ironically, he recently played a recovering alcoholic in Bounce. But now he must prove he can do the same in real life. One addiction specialist told Good Morning America that fame can make coping with substance abuse problems tougher.

"It's a combination of things. One is a tendency of those of us who are caretakers to give them special consideration," relationship expert Dr. Drew Pinsky, who co-hosts the radio talk show Loveline. "Secondly, celebrities have trouble letting go and experiencing the humility to let the addictions go."

Another celebrity-specific problem: the lure of money in the entertainment industry pushes them to return to work before they have recovered, he said.

Recovery for the Rich and Famous

Affleck's father, who has also struggled with alcoholism, is a rehab counselor in California — which Pinsky said is a good sign for the young actor's recovery, since having a parent in recovery helps.

Promises has a patient limit of 12, and a staff of 10, plus extra security to keep the paparazzi away, but it all comes with a $31,000-a-month price tag.

The treatment at Promises is based on the 12-step philosophy, but it also offers cutting-edge treatments like equine therapy, yoga, even parenting classes, and patients are allowed frequent visits from family members.

A key part of treatment at such facilities is coming to a willingness to follow direction, and be powerless, while they listen, share and examine their own emotions, Pinsky said.

Age 23 Is Alcohol’s Primetime

Backstreet Boys singer A.J. McLean is spending the summer in treatment for alcoholism and depression, prompting the boy band to postpone its tour. The young singer said his drinking escalated amid the demands of a new record and an exhausting tour schedule, on top of the recent death of his grandmother.

McLean, who is 23, is at the prime age for alcoholism in men, experts say. Band member Kevin Richardson explains on MTV's Total Request Live that he watched McLean go downhill.

"He's been burning the candle at both ends and partying quite a bit to escape it," Richardson told MTV. "And his alcoholism is pretty bad, and we're worried about him."

Buddy Arnold, a jazz saxophonist and ex-junkie who has been clean for 20 years now, runs a program that straightens out rock stars, from Emmylou Harris to Earth Wind and Fire drummer Freddie White.

Addiction can strike anyone, anytime, but the path to treatment is the same, he said.

"I think it's very important that people are treated the same in any program — that the star gets the same treatment as the grocer," Arnold said. "Because as long as you perpetuate this feeling of uniqueness, you're making it more difficult for that person to get clean."

Vicious Cycle

Downey, a repeat treatment seeker, knows that all too well. He was sentenced last month to a year in a live-in rehab program, and though he is able to leave the grounds to go to work, he must submit to random drug tests. The actor said that kicking his drug habit is the hardest thing he has ever done.

"It's like I have a gun in my mouth and I like the taste of the metal," Downey said.

Four years ago, Matthew Perry checked into the famed Hazelden clinic in Minneapolis, addicted to pain pills. Its straightforward approach includes 12 steps, one-on-one counseling and natural surroundings at $8,000 for a 28-day stay. Perry went back to Hazelden this past March, after a relapse.

"So it's kind of a vicious cycle, and it just keeps on," Perry said. "So if you take two and then you still feel sick, then you take three."

Experts say the heart of most addiction treatment centers is the reliable 12-step program, but in a business where a success rate of 60 percent is considered "pretty good." addicts, famous or not, face the same struggle.

"Drugs are democratic," Arnold said. "They don't differentiate between people. And celebrities need the same help and should not get anything different — because as long as he's being treated special, he's getting another pass, you know. And if you cater to that, you're killing the person."

Even though celebrities tend to go for the glitzy treatment centers, once there, they should be treated like anyone else, Pinsky said. Any approach to give them a different type of treatment sabotages care, he said.