Keller: You don’t have to be rich and famous to get addiction help

Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 19, 2019

With the problem of illegal drug addiction and alcohol abuse being worse today than at any time, we hear of places and programs that have the solution to the problem. Many people spend lots of money at treatment centers to seek relief. The bad news is that the success rate is only about 5 percent for people who complete such programs. The most successful are self-help programs that are free and don’t cost anything. The only requirement is a strong desire to change a life that has become unmanageable.

A few days ago, while waiting for an appointment at a doctor’s office, I picked up a People magazine. The article that caught my attention was titled: Brad on Sobriety: ‘I Removed My Drinking Privilege.’ It was about how Brad Pitt, the famous actor, got sober.

He told the New York Times that he spent a year and a half in an all-male Alcoholics Anonymous group. In the article he said, “You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard. It was this safe space where there was little judgment and therefore little judgment of yourself… It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself.”  

Being wealthy, he could have chosen any treatment center, but chose a 12-step self-help program that is considered the most successful for people with an addiction.

Evidently, he had decided to choose what the best was for Brad Pitt, which is also the best for anyone with a similar problem.

 

If you have any questions, or comments, please write to Harold Keller at Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084, call 985-652-8477 or email hkeller@comcast.net.