The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead at her London flat
delalluvia:
--- Quote from: milomorris on July 24, 2011, 06:47:10 pm ---I saw a TV news story that claimed she had decided a few years that rehab was not for her. So I don't know how hard she actually tried to get off the drugs.
I know from first-hand experience that addiction is a manageable disease. So is diabetes. And if you don't take your insulin properly, you're not managing your disease. Same goes for rehab. Winehouse had a responsibility (and lots of opportunity) to manage her addiction. She had a responsibility to do so. She chose not to. Now she's dead.
Some people would call that a form of suicide. Tragic. And avoidable.
--- End quote ---
What kind of rehab did she go to? Whatever system they used might have turned her off. I know a great many agnostic/atheists are turned off by the 12-step program because it alludes a great deal to a divine power and basically has no scientific basis.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: milomorris on July 24, 2011, 06:47:10 pm ---I saw a TV news story that claimed she had decided a few years that rehab was not for her. So I don't know how hard she actually tried to get off the drugs.
I know from first-hand experience that addiction is a manageable disease. So is diabetes. And if you don't take your insulin properly, you're not managing your disease. Same goes for rehab. Winehouse had a responsibility (and lots of opportunity) to manage her addiction. She had a responsibility to do so. She chose not to. Now she's dead.
Some people would call that a form of suicide. Tragic. And avoidable.
--- End quote ---
You may have firsthand experience, but it sounds like you are lacking some basic information. I have no idea whether, or to what extent, Amy Winehouse actually got treatment for her chemical problems, but rehab is no panacea.
The success rate of rehab programs is extremely low. I've heard the figure 20 percent bandied about -- as in, 20 percent of people who go through rehab programs succeed in permanently kicking their addiction. I think the success rate for diabetes treatment is considerably higher. Drug use may seem like a choice that people make, but addiction is not about people being lazy or undisciplined or making a "choice" not to quit using.
If you or someone you know has made their addictions "manageable" through rehab, good for you or them. I know people who've been successful, too. But I also know people who haven't. If rehab doesn't work 80 percent of the time, it doesn't mean 80 percent of the people who go through it "choose" not to manage their disease. It means the treatment usually isn't effective.
Here's a NYT story on the subject:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/health/23reha.html
--- Quote --- Yet very few rehabilitation programs have the evidence to show that they are effective. The resort-and-spa private clinics generally do not allow outside researchers to verify their published success rates. The publicly supported programs spend their scarce resources on patient care, not costly studies.
And the field has no standard guidelines. Each program has its own philosophy; so, for that matter, do individual counselors. No one knows which approach is best for which patient, because these programs rarely if ever track clients closely after they graduate. Even Alcoholics Anonymous, the best known of all the substance-abuse programs, does not publish data on its participants’ success rate.
--- End quote ---
Kelda:
Well, you've all heard her 2006 song Rehab right?
(They tried to make me go to rehab and I said No No No)
All her songs were autobiographical so certainly when it was written she was not a lover of rehab and while I believe she did do some stints in rehab - the most recent one after her Belgrade gig last month when she was stumbling across the stage pretty much unable to sing - it's always been widely reported she didn't take it too seriously. As soon as she got out of rehab she'd surround herself with the same old crowd again. Also, they don't seem to have been for very long - 2 weeks here, a week there.
I know addiction is a hard thing to kick, but she had a very very tight knit family, and her Mum and Dad particulalry (to whom she was extremely close) were always always trying to help her. She had all the money in the world to get herself clean, but still to no avail.
An interesting piecce on her here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/24/amy-winehouse-a-losing-game
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Kelda on July 25, 2011, 04:32:58 am ---As soon as she got out of rehab she'd surround herself with the same old crowd again. Also, they don't seem to have been for very long - 2 weeks here, a week there.
--- End quote ---
In the case of an alcoholic that would almost just be like "drying out" in order to start drinking again.
I saw a picture in the paper this morning of her hugging her mother when she received one of her Grammy awards. Right now I'm feeling so sad for her parents. :(
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Kelda on July 25, 2011, 04:32:58 am ---Well, you've all heard her 2006 song Rehab right?
(They tried to make me go to rehab and I said No No No)
All her songs were autobiographical so certainly when it was written she was not a lover of rehab and while I believe she did do some stints in rehab - the most recent one after her Belgrade gig last month when she was stumbling across the stage pretty much unable to sing - it's always been widely reported she didn't take it too seriously. As soon as she got out of rehab she'd surround herself with the same old crowd again. Also, they don't seem to have been for very long - 2 weeks here, a week there.
I know addiction is a hard thing to kick, but she had a very very tight knit family, and her Mum and Dad particulalry (to whom she was extremely close) were always always trying to help her. She had all the money in the world to get herself clean, but still to no avail.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I know that song. So as I said, I don't know Amy Winehouse's specific history when it comes to rehab. My point was more general -- rehab isn't just occasionally ineffective, it's ineffective MOST of the time. This was in response to Milo's comment comparing addiction management to diabetes management. It's a lot easier to take insulin than it is to get off drugs.
And as far as I know, a loving family and a lot of money don't necessarily make the difference. Addiction is about brain chemicals.
But of course, it can be done. I don't know why some people succeed and some don't. Like weight loss, it's probably not merely a matter of will power, but maybe it is; I don't know for sure. Obviously they need to do a lot more research.
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on July 25, 2011, 08:47:05 am ---I saw a picture in the paper this morning of her hugging her mother when she received one of her Grammy awards. Right now I'm feeling so sad for her parents. :(
--- End quote ---
Me too. :(
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