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Is Dr. Drew Addicted to Addicts?
The upcoming season of 'Celebrity Rehab' features such TMZ listers as Sean Young and Lindsay Lohan's dad. If Drew's right, it seems like a contradiction at best and a cruel joke at worst to put these troubled people in front of cameras, which reinforces rather than challenges their narcissism. Drew's heard this criticism before. 'Here's the thing: These are unmotivated people who want to be on TV and make money. That's why they're there,' Drew insists. 'And in spite of that, they end up getting treatment, feeling good about it, being transformed by it.' According to his informal data—follow-up calls, e-mails, what you read on Perez Hilton—about 20 percent of 'Celebrity Rehab' cast members stay clean after the program. Obviously the success rate matters less than the ratings, which are excellent.
Maybe Dr. Drew, chronic TV rehabber, isn't totally evil? Although maybe he is.
One of the stars of Sex Rehab just released his own porno.
@Maura Johnston I mean, game over, right?
"Drew and I return to his office. He unbuttons his on-camera shirt, strips to his Jockeys…"
And the GQ cub reporters continue to get the best out of their subjects.
@NotAndersonCooper Another story by Edith?
"…about 20 percent of 'Celebrity Rehab' cast members stay clean after the program." And then there are the Jeff Conways of the bunch. Too bad this show still has an audience.
Yes. Too bad. Dr. Drew is very, very evil.
@Dave Bry I simply write off any TV show host with a "Dr." in front of their name as pure evil.
Drew is to psychiatry what CSI is to law enforcement. If you ever want a laugh (cry?) bring up Dr. Drew with a practicing mental health pro.
@Abe Sauer I'm not even going to be a mental health professional and it gets my blood boiling. My dissertation (in psychology, though not clinical psych) is centered on a widely-used measure of narcissism that was created in 1979. If you google it, all you read about is how Drew talked about it in USA Today, and that it's called "Dr. Drew's Narcissism Test." People are apparently encouraged to have some fun and see how narcissistic they are by taking the measure. There's no mention of the actual creators of the measure (or its actual title) in any of those hits which include reblogs and about a zillion articles. That is the absolute worst kind of academic espionage. Plus the whole issue of republishing a heavily-validated measure that's actually used in clinical settings in USA Today as if it is a fucking Cosmo quiz about which kind of shoes you should buy…
At least he's the avuncular-concerned-face type of evil.
Hate to burst the hate-bubble here, but the recidivism rate for pretty much any other program is around 97%, or 3% clean. 20% is pretty god damn good.
@cory dodt@twitter 20% would be good if it weren't, you know, "according to his informal data," aka "a number he pulled out of his ass to justify the continued existence of his show."
@cory dodt@twitter No, totally, success rate of all rehabs is quite low. (That actual number depends largely on whether you're talking over three months or twenty years, of course, and also, isn't as focused on harm reduction as it might be.) Some are decidedly higher than 97% though for sure!
@cory dodt@twitter according to my research¹ success rates vary depending on the type of rehab and success rates range from 10-25%.
¹the term "research" means i looked on the googles for a minute before i got bored and distracted (kittens!!).
Counterpoint:
Dr. Drew is a competent drug addiction therapist who is making a TV show out of treating people who are entirely accustomed to being on TV. The "production" aspect of the process should actually be MORE comfortable to them and, unlike with people who have no celebrity experience, should have no negative effect on the patient's treatment process. It's not BETTER than sequestered rehab, but it's not worse, and the patients get to do their jobs in the process. (For many of them, it's the most successful job they've done in a long time, and that's a point of esteem to be applied toward the struggle to fight addiction) And through several seasons of watching the show, I've never seen Dr. Drew or his staff at the facility or the production crew do anything remotely harmful to a patient. (Can't say that about every reality show!)
Claims that the show is evil are wildly exaggerated, and mostly come from people who are irritated with the celebrity industry to begin with. Everyone's so fuckin' judgmental about attention-whoring. Get over it. Your horror and outrage just make you another ironic customer for MSM shitshows.
@brianvan In spite of my plagiarism rant above, I have to say that when it comes to the actual show (versus Drew's place in the psychology world), I tend to err of the side of "At least somebody is trying to help these people." As you mention, he's not really doing any better or worse than most "good" traditional rehab facilities in terms of treatment and success. All evidence points to the fact that he maintains close personal relationships with the "cast" when the show wraps, and that he does actually seem sincere in continuing to care about them. The praise he gets from addicts who have been to other rehab facilities more times than they can count on a hand certainly speaks to his abilities and sincerity. If he's using them as a means to an end to further his own career, that seems to be more a side effect than the entire motivation.
The last time I saw Nick Markowitz was at a West Hills house party in the summer of 2000. We were both about to be high school juniors.
When did this bikini line question phone call to Dr. Drew take place? Pre-school?
Are we really still arguing about Kathleen Hanna? Really?
Anytime you wanna fact check my reporting, my crotch, my dead pal, or tickle whatever little hard on you have for me because I'm younger than — what? most girls who would consider fucking you? — tweet me.
@Natasha Vargas-Cooper I only include the information about your 'dead pal' because it's germane to your birth date. Assuming you didn't flunk, you were born in 1984? 1985? I'm mot doubting that you were a precocious bikini wearer. Good for you! Just wondering how many years you were an "cool fan" before they got all "sold out" on MTV.
And if you don't want people asking about your crotch, stop writing about it so much.
Would he go to Drewhab?