CELEBRITIES GIVING REHAB A BAD NAME

Erratic Actions 'Make A Mockery' Of Programs

NEW YORK -- Celebrities like actress Lindsay Lohan and pop star
Britney Spears are making a mockery of rehabilitation programs by
appearing not to take treatment seriously, U.S. addiction experts warned.

Lohan was arrested Tuesday on a second drunken-driving charge just
days after leaving her second stint in rehab flaunting an
alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet at nightclubs.

Spears twice spent less than a day in rehab before entering a third
time for a month after behaving erratically.

"It is making a mockery of rehabs," said Harris Stratyner, a
psychologist with Caron, a non-profit addiction treatment organization.

"In some ways it's starting to make rehabs look like a joke and
that's very sad because hundreds of thousands of people a year are saved."

Lohan, 21, spent a month in rehab in January. But after crashing her
car May 26, she checked in for another six weeks of treatment at
another centre. She was charged last week with drunken driving in
relation to that accident.

Hours after Tuesday's arrest, Lohan's lawyer said she had suffered a
relapse and was "presently receiving medical care."

In February, Spears checked into rehab -- for the third time in a
week -- where she spent the minimum 30 days after a spree of
high-profile partying and unusual behavior such as shaving off her hair.

Upon finishing treatment, the 25-year-old singer completed her
divorce from dancer and aspiring rapper Kevin Federline.

To avoid relapsing, rehab patients are advised to stay away from
"high-risk" situations, including people who could put direct or
subtle pressure on them and places where it is easy to obtain drugs
or alcohol. They are also told to reduce the stress in their lives
and engage in healthy activities.

Most treatment centres also recommend they attend a 12-step recovery
program meeting every day for the first month after leaving rehab and
then go regularly to such meetings.

Jon Morgenstern, of the National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University, said it was not uncommon for people to
need several rounds of treatment but that those "waltzing" in and out
of rehab for short periods could be perceived as not taking their
problem seriously.