According to television channel VH1, the new reality show “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" that airs next January will give viewers “an unflinching look at exactly how the rehab process works and what it feels like for participants." Although drug rehab models and methods can vary widely, host Dr. Drew Pinsky nails it when he describes the high level of commitment required from addicts to get and remain sober. Regardless of the techniques used, you have to take any drug rehab program seriously to succeed.


“The road to sobriety is not easy and rehabilitation and the recovery process are not to be taken lightly," Dr. Pinsky said, in VH1’s press release about the new show. “My goal is to lift the veil and help my patients, as well as viewers, understand that if not taken seriously, addiction is a disease that will kill you."


No two drug rehab programs - or their success rates - are ever the same. What viewers will see on the VH1 show may be different from other drug rehab programs in terms of how the so-called “rehab process" is achieved. But any good drug rehab is about an individual addict’s discovery, confrontation and overcoming of his or her own personal addiction demons, and changing one’s life for good.


How drug rehab works


Since addiction comes to rule an addict’s entire life, it can require a total overhaul of one’s life to reverse the process. Often, it’s best to start with drug detox. Drug detox, which deals with the physical side of addiction, can take anywhere from a few days to maybe 10 days, depending on the type of addiction. Next, the rehab process begins in earnest. For the first few weeks you begin to intensively root out and deal with what is driving your addiction psychologically. This is best done in a residential, 24/7 care environment. Successful rehab programs are always followed by three or more months of continuing rehab activities. This should continue for as long as it takes, not for some pre-set period.


Throughout drug rehab, you will look at how you have been living with your addiction, how you lived before it, and how you want to live after overcoming it. You examine your habits, personal quirks and foibles, how to deal with negative emotions, and how to get along better with others. You will need to take a long hard look at all the people, habits and environments you are going to have to avoid that can lead to temptation and relapse.


Sometime during your rehab, you will want to look at the damage you have caused to yourself and others, as painful as that might be, and take responsibility for your actions. Other topics might require education and counseling during these additional months of drug rehab, designed for your particular needs - no two people have the same addiction problems.


All but one of the nine celebrities (actually, former celebrities) taking part in the VH1 show completed 21 days of intensive 24/7 therapy, and were offered at least three months of continued treatment in a sober living facility or treatment center at VH1’s expense. We don’t know which celeb packed it in before the 21 days was up, and we don’t know who accepted the additional three months of rehab.


The drug rehab process can be an emotional roller-coaster for many people, but it’s a ride towards life instead of to deeper addiction and death. The VH1 show’s creators are counting on public interest in “celebrity rehab" from all the media coverage recently. But for the celebrities involved, is this just entertainment, or is this their lives at stake? What we want to see is real, serious commitment from real people in a real drug rehab program, recovering the lives they lost to addiction.