Old Hollywood was rife with secrets: homosexuality, affairs, budgeting “shortfalls,” drug addiction. Big movie producers owned their stars and wanted no stories to hit the headlines that would threaten their take at the box office. In fact, there are tons of stories of movie moguls going to great lengths to protect the reputations of their biggest stars – perhaps this is why Cary Grant’s life remained so hidden… until now.

Exploring Spirituality with Drugs

Grant’s ex-wife, Dyan Cannon, recently wrote a memoir dedicated to her life with her famous ex entitled Dear Cary. In it, she discusses how her husband used psychedelics to explore his inner self and used his search for enlightenment as a reason to abuse drugs.

Says Cannon: “He had some very tough things happen to him as a kid. Some very dark secrets that he never really dealt with. He thought LSD was the gateway to God. He wasn’t using it as a party thing; he was using it to get to that inner peace of himself because he was really spiritual, the man was, and he thought when our marriage started to go south that if I took it with him, it would heal us.”

Drug Abuse and Marriage

Cannon says that because her husband wanted her to, she did drugs with him on more than a few occasions. It’s not uncommon for the unaddicted spouse to do drugs or drink more often than he or she would have alone when married to someone living with a drug abuse or addiction problem. In an attempt to hold the relationship together, many spouses do that and other things that they never thought they would. Many women, especially, develop addictions in an attempt to hold onto their relationship, even if that relationship is not providing them with anything they need emotionally.

Says Cannon: “If you think he was charming on-screen, you should have met him-off screen. I have never ever met a presence like that, or power in his being, and charm, and his tenderness. He was the whole package.”

Telling Cary Grant’s Story to Help Others

Cannon has no fear that her confessional account of Grant’s drug addiction issues will lessen the love of his fans. On the contrary, she says: “I think people love him more for it. He was a wonderful man. A precious, wonderful, good, dear man who had demons he didn’t deal with.”

If you are living with someone who is pulling you down into addiction, your best first step is to get the help you need to fight drug abuse and all the problems that go along with it. Women ready to begin their road to recovery can contact us today at The Orchid.

Melanie Griffith has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years and years, famously going to rehab on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts at treatment, Griffith says that her ultimate triumph over painkiller addiction that developed after an accident on a ski trip in 2007 was due in part to a confrontation with her daughters.

Griffith’s Daughters Helped Her Enroll in Treatment

Griffith says that her 14-year-old daughter with husband Antonio Banderas and two grown children from previous relationships were all very concerned about her before she agreed to enroll in treatment in 2009: “I started on pain pills when I hurt my knee skiing and just kept taking them. The kids knew; Dakota and Stella called me on it. Antonio was in London at the time. I went away to rehab for three months; it took 10 days just to detox.”

Her daughters’ interest in her recovery and their concern for her wellbeing was enough to convince her to take the action necessary to recover.

For many, a child’s sincere wish for them to get better is enough of an intervention to make a difference. The fear and worry of a child is often more poignant than that of anyone else.

Support from Spouses

Though the support of your spouse can be a significant help during an intervention, these relationships are often so complicated after long-term addiction that it’s not always simple. Oftentimes, there is quite a bit of mistrust and anger on both sides. Any words of encouragement for treatment may be taken in a negative way; an avoidance of the issue may be viewed as cold and uncaring.

Though Banderas has been vocal in his support of Griffith during her long lasting struggle with substance abuse, Griffith feels as if he could have done more: “Antonio was supportive to the extent that he can be, but if you’re not an alcoholic or drug addict, and you find out that your wife is a bad one, it’s hard to deal with… I wish he would go to a meeting with me or to Al-Anon, but it’s very foreign to him. Addiction runs in my family but not in his.

“I don’t mean that against him. I would like him to do more, but it’s a difficult thing to have happen in any family, and in that way he has been totally by my side. He really is the greatest guy.”

Helping Yourself

If you are living with drug and/ or alcohol addiction, you don’t have to wait for loved ones to step forward and point you in the right direction. Get the help you need now at The Orchid. Call for more information.

Until recently, it was commonly believed that addiction was an issue of willpower: those who were morally strong could stop drinking and abusing drugs and those who weren’t were shunned. Over the years, however, more and more research has demonstrated the changes that occur in the brain and how addiction has the characteristics of a chronic disorder rather than a moral failing. Very few – especially those in the medical and psychotherapeutic fields – view addiction as anything other than a physical health issue with psychological components.

The Argument Against Addiction as a Disease

There is, however, an ongoing argument against drug addiction as a disease. Many refuse to believe the scientific evidence that more is at work than an inability to control oneself. They point out that:

• Drug addiction is not contagious. You don’t “catch it” accidentally.

• There’s no known way to develop drug addiction or alcoholism other than to drink or abuse drugs, which is clearly a choice, at least initially.

• Once it’s clear that drug and alcohol abuse has negative consequences, the patient still continues to drink and abuse drugs.

Most argue that those diagnosed with other diseases would stop the causative behavior if that were the way to treat the issue. Why can’t those addicted to drugs and alcohol do the same?

The Argument for Addiction as a Disease

Yes, it’s true that you can stand next to an addict or alcohol and not “catch” the disease. The same is true for the ability to “catch” HIV or cancer, and those are definitely both diseases, too. And yes, it is a choice to initially pick up a beer or smoke a joint or try any drug and that this action can ultimately lead to an addiction. But so too can it be said that skin cancer starts with choosing to be out in the sun without sunscreen – but few would say that those who are living with skin cancer have a moral issue or a problem with will power.

Additionally, there are a number of studies that track the marked changes in brain chemicals and structure that occur when drugs are abused for a long period of time. Clearly, a patient undergoes physical and psychological changes as a result of drug abuse and addiction. These changes make it even more difficult to control the impulses related to the problem.

What Do You Think?

Is drug and alcohol addiction a disease or a choice? Leave us a comment and let us know!

It’s becoming more and more common in the UK and in some parts of the United States: where drug courts provide drug addiction treatment for those who committed nonviolent crimes while under the influence of drugs or in pursuit of money to buy more drugs, many who stand before a judge as a result are actually requesting to be remanded to treatment. In fact, some “criminals” are asking for drug treatment, saying that they hoped to be arrested for their crimes so that they could get the help that they couldn’t get for themselves out on the street.

One car thief, Stewart Reith, recently stood before a judge in the UK and asked to be locked up so that he could get drug rehabilitation help. The judge said ‘yes.’

Everything about Reith’s crime was very highly visible. He went to a car dealership and posed as a staff member, walking the floor with a clipboard and wearing the company jacket. The cameras on site captured him getting into the Vauxhall Corsa VRM and driving away; the car was found a few days later without its tires.

Even with the camera footage of Reith doing the crime, there was no forensic evidence to help investigators track him down from the abandoned vehicle. The homeless Reith ultimately turned himself in and gave law enforcement all the details they needed, saying he had stolen the car with the hope of selling it to fund his habit but couldn’t find any buyers.

Finding Drug Rehab the Right Way

Reith’s story sheds light on the sheer desperation that many living with addiction feel when it comes to conquering their drug abuse issues. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish even with all the right resources – those who are alone and without support have almost no chance. Not everyone is lucky enough to have family who will help them get the help they need to heal or friends who will persevere and help them to enroll in treatment.

If someone you care about is living with a drug or alcohol addiction, don’t wait to confront the issue. They may not be immediately ready to enter drug rehab, but if they have the determination to get clean, you can help them find a drug rehab that can help.

The Orchid offers a comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment program that treats women who are living with a drug dependence. Call now to find out how you can help a woman you care about get the help she needs to start a new life without addiction.

Spirituality is a big part of drug and alcohol addiction recovery, in part because it has so little to do with active addiction. The new way of looking at life can make recovery so much different from active addiction that patients can honestly start fresh and build a new life for themselves.

When patients in recovery take the time to explore their spiritual feelings and inclinations, many find a new reason to live beyond the material, a kind of high that exists well beyond the benefits provided by the instant gratification of drugs and alcohol. A new definition of joy and happiness – even contentedness – becomes the norm and makes day-to-day experience less black and white. Rather than create their own brand of spirituality, many turn toward established religions like Christianity for guidance. Can Christianity cure drug and alcohol addiction?

Christianity in Recovery

Though there is no cure for drug and alcohol addiction, there are a number of therapies and treatment approaches that have been proven successful for those in recovery. Everyone is different and not everyone responds to a treatment model that includes or emphasizes Christian tenets – in fact, many patients may be turned off completed by the religious and moral issues raised by a Christian focus in recovery. However, there are a number of people who credit their continued and long-term sobriety to the Christian focus of the program. By “finding God,” they found a purpose for their lives that made sense to them, a purpose that did not include drug and alcohol abuse. Simply avoiding relapse in order to protect their health the feelings of those who love them was not enough; God’s will gave them the purpose and strength they needed to walk away.

Additionally, the focus on service to others, giving up control to God, and allowing God to work through others and events in your life gives many the freedom to let go of outcome and avoid overwhelming feelings of frustration, anger, self righteousness, pride and other emotions that can be triggers for relapse.

12-Steps and Christianity

The 12-step program (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, et cetera) is heavily focused on the spiritual aspect of recovery. Giving up control of addiction to a Higher Power almost immediately is a stutter step for some and the easiest step of all for others. Though many 12-step groups turn down the focus on religion, others embrace it. In fact, a number of 12-step meetings are held in churches.

Finding the type of 12-step treatment program and focus that works for you can be key to your success. There are a number of different options and, if you feel drawn to what Christianity can offer your recovery, there are tons of opportunities to incorporate that focus into your recovery.

Has Christianity worked for you or helped someone you care about get through addiction treatment and recovery? Share your story below!