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Show 66 nstant TV Replay lust outside Las Vegas, the State of Nevada has erected a billboard. Its message: "Don't Gamble with Marijuana in Nevada. Possession: Twenty Years. Sale: Life." In Los Angeles, disc-jocke- ys ryi Addicts .Drug ,., ... I I rsE2ES !f - - r ... ' ' . w - - - Help By GERALD GRONAU I'"" JLyrrrrlS1 s3Etr lEEf' t?EHit5 "'t Although the program is still in its early stages, a number of the volunteers has already made the successful transition from addict to functional member of society and now work at outside jobs. Those who join "The Family" are treated in a completely open atmosphere and may leave whenever they wish. The television cameras and videotape recorders used in the program provide patients with a completely objective picture of themselves. According to Wayne Wilson, director of services at Mendocino, they also act as an objective measure of progress for both patients and staff. Addicts are filmed in various activities, ranging from the "slip game" of The Family, where group members act out suggestions for short skits made by other members and drawn from a hat, to the hospital admission of an ade dict under the influence of drugs. participants are able to view themselves seconds afterward due to the immediate playback capability of videotape recording, while the newly arrived addict can watch the tape of his admission several weeks later, after having been calmed by tranquilizing agents and the absence of drugs. Slip-gam- Family Weekly, November 22, 1970 As rehabilitation continues, the ad- dicts look back on themselves candidly and with a certain degree of revulsion. "I was chippying with smack (using heroin off and on) in the service at 19, got busted for it good at 22," says one patient we'll call George. "Then I started using 'garbage-cadrugs anything I could get. "But I'm one dope addict who always knew how to hold down a real job. I was a bartender, and I worked even while I was on junk good jobs, good pay, plenty to buy the speed. "So I made probation by shooting crystal (another name for methamphetamine) all the time. I'd shoot a lot of speed, get real wired up, then shoot a lot of yellow jackets (Nembutal, a sedative). I'd get up on a run of speed, stop the run with five or six yellow jacks, and do it all over again." George finally quit his job and shot methedrine Later, he was arrested for slugging his wife and placed in an institution. "They put me in a padded cell, treated me like I was righteously crazy," he says. "And man, I was. A nut in a nut house. I came up here, saw people who were even worse off than me. So now I'm beginning to think. Maybe I'm not as smart as I figured." n' fre- quently warn their young listeners: "Speed (methamphetamine) kills." But drug abuse continues to increase, particularly among young people, no matter how severe the penalties or how persistent the warnings about the harmful effects. A U.S. Senate subcommittee reported that drug abuse increased a 1,000 percent from 1964 to 1968. The problem has been complicated by the fact that rehabilitation programs for addicts have rarely proven successful. Neither prison sentences nor locked hospitals have been effective. A dramatic new program, however, now offers fresh hope. It is based, surprisingly, on the use of television specifically videotape recordings, which in TV sportscasts are referred to as "instant replay." The program is operated at Mendocino State Hospital in Ukiah, California, just north of San Francisco. Addicts who volunteer for it are called "The Family." 10 99 CP t-S- ? r S Bb 1 1 1 o n full-tim- e. f ..- J is - Television replay is used at Mendocino State Hospital, Ukiah, Calif., to enable drug addicts to see themselves when they first entered, and during their reliabilitation. Patients watch themselves on a television set with avid interest, but the interest of the staff is perhaps even keener. At a typical taping session, one staff member operates the television camera while another sits in the informal group session and lets the members' discussion take its course. The peaceful, scenic atmosphere around Mendocino is blended with meditation among newly arrived addicts for the first few weeks. Then a process of socialization begins. At this point, the patients are called Newcomers and are only candidates to The Family. The Family observes and talks with the Newcomers, and eventually de- cides if the new patients are really serious about attempting rehabilitation, and whether they will be a positive or disruptive influence on tneir peers. If a patient is found unsuitable, he is dismissed from the program. If he remains, the voluntary aspects are stressed, and the program begins. "We've been gratified to find out that once withdrawn from drugs and removed from the drug subculture, these young people can be extraordinarily responsible, provided they are involved us cotherapists in their own treatment," says Wilson. Therapeutic interaction is practically a project, for the patients 24-ho- ur are constantly discussing their problems and providing each other with the Various projmotivation for ects such as tending a three-acr- e garden and arts and crafts classes help fill the hospital day and provide a trickle of income when marketed to the outside world. A typical group session was exemplified by a recent gathering of five addicts who entered the hospital about two weeks before the confrontation. Two young men, three girls, and a staffer sat together in an informal setting. None seemed aware of the microphone placed near them. The intense dialogue centered on one person for a few minutes, then jumped to another. At one point, the discussion shifted rapidly toward one young woman. A barrage of questions explored her and its correlation to her sex life. The interrogation was not to examine the intimate details of the young girl's sex life but rather to force her to examine the reasons for addiction. New perceptions often are provided by such confrontations, and ego enhancement develops when repeated encounters are met with growing confidence. The "instant replay" of videotape recording shows group members how they interact, and the same tapes shown several weeks later are documentary evidence of their improvement. self-hel- p. speed-shooti- ng Rehabilitation is no overnight affair. It may take six months or more before a patient feels he is ready to take on society again. To help him make the transition, a Halfway House exists in San Francisco, the city from which many of the addicts originally came. The home is partially financed by hospitalized Family members so that in effect they are paying for the home before they move mto it. Rehabilitated addicts may either stay at the House or use it as an aid whenever they want reinforcement. Mendocino staffers also use television in several experiments with alcoholic and emotionally disturbed patients. Group therapy meetings of alcoholics are filmed and replayed. Another pilot program involves sensory exploration, with each group participant wearing a blindfold. The alcoholics used in this experiment apothpeared to btcome more aware of ers and of themselves when deprived of sight. They can't look to others fof clues with a blindfold on, and most participants seem more expressive. At Mendocino, television is proving to be an objective observer. The medium has a new message. , |