Hollywood is filled with temptations, but does that lifestyle actually make someone more prone to substance abuse? Dr. Drew doesn’t think so.
It seems like you can’t go a week without hearing a report of another celebrity falling into addiction.
Whether it’s a singer, actor or someone who’s famous for just being famous, it’s almost like there’s something in the water in Hollywood that makes stars more prone to addiction and willing to trade their fame and success for the negative consequences that substance abuse brings. So is there something about celebrity that causes addiction?
Addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky says emphatically, “No. Absolutely not. And I have the data to prove it.”
Pinsky should know. A sort of star himself, he’s the executive producer of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew for VH1. Before that, he hosted Loveline for MTV and radio, where they collected reams of survey data about guests’ family, fame, upbringing and drug use.
“My data’s very clear: celebrity has no affect on psychopathology,” Pinsky insists. “The addiction rates are exactly what you’d see in society at large.” That said, he does admit that the trappings of celebrity can cause addiction to blossom in those who may already be prone to substance use. Hollywood is also someplace where temptation is everywhere.
“Famous addicts make all the money they need to feed their addiction,” Pinsky says. “They have enablers who can get them the drugs and assistants who are making too much money off them and don’t want to step in. So the addiction grows.”
In the end, celebrity doesn’t cause addiction, but it doesn’t make it any easier to avoid addiction either. And once someone has a substance abuse problem, there are no short cuts to recovery – no matter how well-known you might be.
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Tags: Celebrity Alcoholism, Celebrity Drug Addiction, Celebrity Rehab
