Rehab, The Not-So-New Celebrity Accessory

There is a special bond between celebrities and rehab; more celebrities than ever before have sought the protection and solace of rehab facilities in the past five years than ever before. Like any other move a celebrity makes, paparazzi and the public cannot get enough of their most recent drug and alcohol issues and gossiping about the numerous much-needed interventions. Hollywood is a booze-filled, drug-heavy place full socialites with way too much money and when spending that money on clothes, accessories, houses and cars gets old, many celebrities start spending it on drugs that come easier to them than to anyone else. These celebrities are not just movie stars, and they aren’t just dominating our movie theaters, television screens, mp3 players and magazine covers, but they also often dominate the several “exclusive” rehabilitation facilities around the world.

But some celebrities take drug rehab to the next level; like everything else in their lives, they often use rehab in excess and several celebrities have become infamous for their rehab visits.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears is perhaps the most-famous when it comes to so-called insanity; not so much of her rehab stays, but for her head-shaving incident (a Britney “Shears” doll was even made because of the paparazzi’s love affair with the incident!) She entered a drug rehab center in Antigua after an intervention by her family in February 2007. She stayed at the center in Antigua for less than 24 hours and the next night, the infamous head-shaving incident occurred. Luckily for her, she admitted herself to another treatment facility, the famous Promises, in Malibu, California. Since then, she has really cleaned up her act, has been seen being a great mother and her music career is kicking back up and her fans are still by her side. She has, perhaps, made one of the biggest celebrity comebacks we’ve seen.

Amy Winehouse

For such a surprisingly young woman, Amy Winehouse has had more than a lifetime’s worth of battles. She had admitted to having psychological problems such as depression, which led to self-harm and eating disorders. In 2005, the singer went through a period of heavy drinking and drug use, violent mood swings and weight loss. In August 2007 Winehouse was hospitalized after a reported overdose on heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol. Amy Winehouse has been in a myriad of different facilities, including a physician-supervised program in 2007, a two week treatment program in January of 2008, she was sectioned at the assistance of her father and manager in April 2008, her father commented that she was in another drug replacement program in June 2009 and in July 2009, upon her return to the United Kingdom from an extended stay in St. Lucia, she has appeared to be doing well and we can only hope that she stays that way.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is perhaps the most famous party girl in the last nearly five years and in those five years she has racked up an impressive amount of discretions. She had been involved in a series of car accidents with minor crashes in August 2004 and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in 2006. In January 2007 she checked herself into the Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility and completed a 30-day stay. In May 2007, Lindsay lost control of her car in Beverly Hills with a usable amount of cocaine in her car. She was arrested for the misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and two days later, she also entered Promises where she completed a 45-day stay. She had also entered Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah when she had failed a sobriety test and was found with cocaine in her possession yet again. Lindsay Lohan seems to be doing well now, with a career in fashion that will hopefully keep her out of trouble and out of jail.

While celebrities in rehab is likely not going to disappear from the gossip magazines and websites, you can also tune into Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew as he deals with celebrities patients with substance abuse problems.