“Rehab” is short for rehabilitation, which means to repair or restore. Drug or alcohol rehab programs help to heal people’s addictions. These are people who drink or take drugs a lot - to the point where it’s unhealthy. Often, it’s hard for people to break these habits, even if they want to.

How many people have these problems?

Approximately 5 million Americans are serious, hard-core drug abusers, government agencies say. Approximately six million Americans abuse alcohol, and 8 million more are addicted to it.

What kinds of rehab are there?

Some are residential, meaning the patient lives in a hospital or a treatment center, where counselors can supervise their treatment. Others are outpatient, meaning the patient lives at home, but goes to regular therapy sessions during the day.

Some are halfway houses, where people live and receive help, often while going to school or holding down a job.

Who gets which treatment?

Money has a lot to do with that. Generally, only the wealthy can afford the 28-day residential programs. Costs can be as high as $15,000 for a monthlong stay in such a place, staffed with physicians, therapists, nutritionists and others. People who are less wealthy sometimes have their insurance company pay for treatment.

But many of the people who need drug treatment are poor and don’t have medical insurance. There are long waiting lists to get into drug treatment. Of the 5 million “chronic drug users” in the U.S., only 2.1 million are getting treatment.

How do the rehab counselors help people?

Sometimes, by giving them medical treatment. When people use a lot of drugs or alcohol, it causes brain changes that make it hard for them to stop. Being without a drink or their drug can be physically painful. Certain medications can ease that pain. Others can help people be less dependent on drugs or drinking.

Another approach is to help the patient cope with life problems that may have led to the substance-abuse in the first place. A.J., for example, who was raised by his mother and grandparents, was upset about the recent death of his grandmother, bandmembers said.

Counselors get patients to talk about what’s troubling them and then help them figure out how to change a bad situation - or maybe just deal with it better. They encourage patients to help each other.

Why do we always seem to hear about famous people’s addiction problems?

People used to be more ashamed of these problems and hide them, but that began to change in the 1970’s. People began to be more sympathetic toward substance abusers and treat addiction more like a medical problem, and less like a sign of weak character.

Leading that charge was Betty Ford, wife of President Gerald R. Ford, who was applauded for her courage when she announced publicly that she had a drinking problem. She founded a rehab center, which is named after her.