I worked at a drug rehab for three years; some of our patients were in San Quentin, some were in Star Wars. Postal workers to OSCAR winners, the feelings, the reasons they were there, were the same. They hit bottom, they wanted to save their careers, they wanted to stay out of jail.

It doesn’t matter what THE WORLD thinks of you, if you have “NEGATIVE SELF-TALK”, your life will suck as bad as any of us normal shmoes struggling to overcome our first few years of life. I’ve worked with celebrities who’ve driven up to my office in $200,000 cars, and they’re suicidal—- like the anti-depressant commercial, there’s a little dark cloud that follows the Mercedes.

The young, rich and famous have it all, including neurosis, fear, anxiety, self-consciousness, confusion, rage, depression and parents.

My parents are Holocaust survivors, I didn’t have the right to feel bad or complain: “What? Is a Nazi chasing you?” Celebrities have problems of abundance, which are still PROBLEMS. Who are they going to complain to? They’d get loads of compassion: “Awwww…. you’re depressed, sitting there tears falling on your Platinum record?”

If they’ve felt like a loser for most of their lives, it doesn’t matter how many awards they win, because the thrill of winning disappears quickly, and they’re left feeling like a loser again; plus they feel guiltier because they know they “should” be grateful for their good fortune! The guiltier an addict feels, the MORE they want to escape via drugs and alcohol.

Celebs deal with all the same fun emotions, like shame and fear and guilt. Guilt, the guilt that keeps on giving.

And, frustration? Many are perfectionists dealing with a highly imperfect universe. So they take a little yellow pill: Movie-star Helper, which is a step that can put them on the long white powdery path to hell.

They’ve worked hard, rehearsed, choreographed, memorized, they have the millions, they’ve reached the top—and they’re still unhappy. NOW WHAT? “Is that all there is”, turns into: “is that all the coke there is?”

And, why did they go into showbiz in the first place, if not to get the world to love them because they had low self-esteem and craved attention? So here they are, a world of people love them, but they still feel like crap, so they reach out to something to make them feel better. Even if it ends up making them feel worse!

They’re not immune to WORRY. People judging… will they work again, will they suck, will they make a big mistake? They have an image to uphold! Think if it were you, there’s bad reviews, long hours, Paparazzi getting that million dollar shot of you getting out of a limo in your mini-skirt and no underwear.

Element of ISOLATION: As well as being a recovering addict, I’m also an ex-agoraphobic. I didn’t ever want to leave my room and no one was trying to photograph my cellulite! And, the more the belly hangs out, the bigger the zit, the lumpier the cellulite, the more the photographer gets for the shot! It’s hard to go through life holding in your stomach. This, I know from!

Many suffer from the Impostor Syndrome: They’re going to find out I have no talent and take back the GRAMMY.

They’re on husband #4: “HE” can’t fix it either. They can’t sooth themselves by themselves. They need a little help from Seagrams, their dealer, Phillip Morris. Talent/genius and madness are often linked. It’s not a matter of being smart; Bill Clinton was smart, but something other than smart was in play when he was with Monica in the Oval Office. (sex addiction, maybe?) Look at Albert Einstein, he could split an atom, but he couldn’t comb his hair. There are two brains, one that thinks, one that feels. If the feeling brain is in pain or freaked out, it can become a gorilla and squash the thought process, “SHUT-UP THINKING BRAIN—-I WANT VICODIN!”

Bad Combo: POOR EMOTION MANAGEMENT & EASY ACCESS! Entourage-access, it’s a matter of saying, “OK, Who’s holding.” One super-celeb told me he could never run out of drugs, everyone would want to hang out with him, and they all came with drugs.

Insecurity hits on every level: Marlon Brando was a fan of my TV cable show, we became friends. When I saw “THE FRESHMAN”, I called to tell him how much I liked it. He sounded like an insecure little boy, “Really?” he said, and told me how he thought he was terrible; he had jet lag, caught a cold on the flight… (his dog ate his script…) It doesn’t matter how talented the world thinks you are, if YOU think you stink, you may reach outward for a drink! In Marlon’s case, he reached out to Ben & Jerry.

I was recently asked by a reporter, “What do you think about young celebrities treating rehab like a day spa? (In for three days, out for a few weeks, back in for just a week after being photographed partying a bit too hard…)”

“Partying” is an interesting term to describe the irrational behavior of throwing one’s life away on drugs and alcohol in an attempt to alleviate anxiety and emotional pain.

... Day spa? There’s a lot more vomiting in rehab, than at The Golden Door. Spas offer body scrubs. Rehab offers confrontational counselors who seem to want to scrape the skin from your bones in an attempt to get at the core of your dilemma. Detoxing, and being forced to face issues (that you’ve been trying to medicate away), is often unbearable. Strong men have run from group screaming, “Mummy, come get me!” “And bring the pills!”

Patients flee rehab centers because they can’t take the fear, anxiety, confusion and feelings of powerlessness…especially for celebs who’ve wielded power. Now they’re being told to scrub their toilet and their cell phones are taken from them! They want to go back to the entourage who “loves” them and never asks uncomfortable questions. They go AWOL because they can’t take the feelings another day! I’m all for Swedish massage in rehab. Go ahead, offer some non-narcotic pain relief. Show them sobriety doesn’t always hurt!

Here’s one reason a teen should avoid “experimenting”. It’s Russian Roulette, you never know if you’ll have that addictive gene. Plus, there is an innate human drive, a desire to alter our consciousness. And certain substances are very physically addictive; even a Monkey will keep hitting the lever that delivers more cocaine, and he’ll turn down food, won’t sleep and he’ll keep hitting that lever till he’s dead.

And many of the starlets are starving, and can’t think from the lack of protein in their brains. They’re on The High-Speed & Cigarette Diet to get that Hollywood-Bony look. Girl Celeb Rule #1: If your ribs and hip bones don’t pop out, you’re fat.

Much love to all, (especially to you stinkers out there, because you need love the most!)