I think we've all read a lot worse. It's just kind of odd that he's gone for the year with a hanging chad, but if something else is going on that would fall under HIPAA so that's kind of what I'm thinking.
Everyone is different, there's no blanket approach, but when people die because they're told they're resistant to treatment, they're in denial, and there's only one way to skin a cat, that's a huge problem. There are shit tons of rehabs where there isn't even a qualified doctor on staff let alone a physician who deals directly with safely medically detoxing patients. It's amazing to me how many people don't know that alcohol withdrawal can kill you. You should only know what goes on in the state of Florida, let alone CA. CA has the most rehab centers per capita of not only anywhere in the nation, but anywhere in the world. They're turnstiles, they bilk insurance companies, they get shut down, and open up under a different LLC. They also pay addicts to recruit other addicts off the street. Drugs are rampant, sexual assaults happen, nobody does anything. They're not all bullshit. What is said is that 12 Step is horseshit and it isn't science. Would an insurance company pay a hospital to for me to make amends when I need my appendix out? No, and replacing your addiction with something more benign is certainly the far lesser evil and far healthier but it isn't changing your behavior. If you learned to abuse a substance you can unlearn it. Try and find a rehab center that specializes in behavior modification and heavy psychological counseling by qualified professionals and you're gonna come up pretty dry. Anyone can become a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor and guess what they're training is? LOLOLOLOL. I'm not saying those treatment centers aren't there, I'm saying they're beyond slim pickings and they're just as unaffordable. Rehab is fine for just so long most of the time. You're not around those who are using, but once you get out, the same pitfalls are there because what landed you there isn't addressed the way it should be. Why the F should taking endless moral inventories be a litmus test for sobriety? I'm glad things worked out for your friend, and the time away from the environment he was in, sure that can certainly help; but what's keeping him clean is him.
California has the 4th largest GDP in the world and would rank as the 59th largest country in the world if you looked at population size. So the fact that they have tons of rehab centers is no surprise. I respect your anger at the pharmaceutical complex in the US but you’re being pretty ridiculous about rehab facilities. You may as well say you did t believe in any sort of psychological therapy because the mind is what it is and if you can’t overcome it, you’re fucked no matter the intervention that takes place.
I should've been more specific: Los Angeles. 3,000-3,500 die is rehab facilities every year and that's an extremely conservative estimate. That may seem like a drop in the bucket, but it isn't when it's someone you love.
My incredibly talented friend was in a rehab in NJ. He was voted out of the house because he didn’t find a job in time. He was depressed as hell about it and ended up dying in a bathroom in a park a block away from the rehab from an overdose. He was probably the most talented musician I’ve ever met (and I know a lot of great and some famous musicians). He was in an accident in his early 20’s. He was handed opiates like Candy. He’d tell me stories how the doctors would prescribe him so many pills he couldn’t keep up. He had percs and oxy’s all over his place and basically was prescribed into addiction. Then the opiate epidemic hit and those same doctors just stopped prescribing entirely with no alternate options. The same doctors that gave him opiates like Candy were now looking down at him like a junkie as if it was his fault. He told me that he hated heroin, it didn’t even give a high near what the pills did. He fell into over a decade of being in and out of rehabs. His last round had him clean for over 150 days. During that period he had a job with a company car, played a show Hershey theater and Count Basie Theater, and even still he could get away for good. It haunted him constantly. He lost it all again, went into rehab, got clean for about a month and a half and got kicked out for not having a job. Then he got high one last time. He was the all American kid, great looking guy, great personality, incredibly talented, great father to his son. He’s just the most recent of so many I’ve lost to addiction. He was one of millions lost due to the doctors listening to big pharma telling them that opiates were safe. But I blame doctors just as much. They saw the signs, they knew what was happening, they were just in love with the monetary kickbacks and perks that those guys in business suits visiting the office with free drug samples and tickets to the big game/concert/whatever…. “ask your doctor if ‘insert drug name’ is right for you”. Why should I ask my doctor? Shouldn’t my doctor know? I thought we’re supposed to trust our doctors. That’s all we heard during Covid was “trust your doctors”. Here’s a little surprise-your doctor doesn’t know shit. They use Google to diagnose symptoms and prescribe whatever med pays them the most. A capitalistic healthcare system doesn’t care about the patients needs, it cares what revenue a patient can generate.
Sorry to hear about that, man. Fortunately I haven’t lost anyone extremely close to me, but I seen a fair amount of people I went to school with, played youth sports with, etc. pass away on overdoses. I’ve never went to one, but rehab facilities are about facilitating the ability to unlock one’s willpower. Some people can do it on their own, some people need help doing so. Sometimes it works and then disappears without that reinforcement. Sure, they’re apart of the big capitalistic healthcare complex but I think the whole thing that sparked my irritation with the initial comments Jeto made is that it came through as it’s all bullshit and people just need to figure it out and want to quit.
Much of the rehab industry is a fucked up entity driven more by money than concern for addicts/drunks. But there are genuine rehabs that actually give an addict a good head start on dealing with their problem. As far as 12 Step programs... they work as well as you work it. Alcoholics Anonymous has been around since 1938. They must be doing something right.
Unfortunately it is not overeating that is involved. It is donut-eating. Actually it is many sugary products eating. Which is why I am a (relatively) skinny type 2 diabetic. Out of nowhere I can decide to buy an Entenman's raspberry-cheese danish coffee cake and eat like 75% of it at a sitting. 99.9% of the time I am safe from this type of binge and then suddenly I fall off the wagon and the next thing I know I am sitting in a stupor on my couch watching Beavis and Butthead reruns with raspberry jelly all over the place...
