News AP News Coming clean: Public embrace for celeb addicts offers hope

Coming clean: Public embrace for celeb addicts offers hope

Rehab therapists and addicts in recovery say celebrities who come clean publicly offer hope

Coming clean: Public embrace for celeb addicts offers hope Image Source : APComing clean: Public embrace for celeb addicts offers hope

NEW YORK (AP) — More celebrities than ever before are going public with their addiction struggles. The momentum in sharing their journeys hasn't been lost on those in the trenches of the recovery movement.

Ringo Starr recently proved the point. He spoke at a fundraising gala for a recovery nonprofit about his years of drinking and drugging, and what it means to be 30 years sober.

Some rehab facilities say they see a bump in patient influx when celebrity cases surface.

John Hamilton of the treatment center Mountainside in Canaan, Connecticut, says the famous who disclose their struggles go a long way toward breaking the stigma of addiction.

He called shame one of the greatest obstacles to recovery.

Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.