DRY - Treatment

Augusten requested to attend a specialized rehab that was designed for people who are gay and lesbian. This seemed to motivate him to attend and take part in treatment.

DRY fails to provide much detail about Augusten’s treatment, although there seemed to be a lot of group therapy, which is typical of most rehab facilities. His extensive history of childhood abuse, although identified as a factor in his drinking, is not discussed as part of his treatment.

Augusten talks a lot about AA attendance when he returns to New York. AA seemed helpful for him, but unfortunately, he also met at the meetings, a person with whom he became romantically involved. Given this person’s addiction to crack cocaine, Augusten eventually ended up relapsing on both alcohol and crack cocaine. He continued to have a problem with both substance for two years until he returned to AA and became sober on a permanent basis.

Treatment Plan

Treatment Plan

Biological
Lauren’s treatment plan is mainly biological and the book is about her experience of taking Prozac. From her account, it seems that she has regular contact with her prescribing psychiatrist.

Psychological
Based on Lauren’s past suicide attempt(s) and suicidal ideation, the practitioner must assess her current risk for suicide and continue to monitor this throughout treatment. The practitioner can make sure to assess risk using a strengths-based approach by inquiring how Lauren has dealt with and got over her thoughts of self-harm in the past.

Although we know that Lauren has been hospitalized, it isn’t clear the treatments she received. Her “anxiety about eating” remains a concern (she claims that she had anorexia nervosa when she was younger). Further assessment of her eating patterns and extent of body disturbance is warranted.

Clearly, the writing of her memoir was a way that Lauren worked through her depression and her recovery. The fact that it was published and reached such a wide audience likely helped her experience meaning from the depression.

Social
As part of her recovery from depression, which Lauren attributes to Prozac, she says that she was able to have friends when she returned to graduate school and she eventually met a romantic partner. However, at the outset of the book, it seems that a referral to a cognitive-behavioral group might have helped her cope better, teach her needed social skills, and address some possible cognitive distortions that may get in the way of her recovery (“I’ll lose my creativity if I’m depressed). One of her major risk factors for a compromised adjustment is her isolation and lack of social support and group treatment may provide her with some beginning support and skills that she can take into other relationships.