In and out of rehab and all over the tabloids, celebrity addicts like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are damaging the image of addiction treatment programs, some observers say.

Reuters reported July 25 that incidents like Lohan being arrested for drunk driving just days after leaving a recovery program with an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, or Spears twice spending less than a day in treatment programs before being admitted for a third time, make "a mockery of rehabs," said Harris Stratyner of the Caron Foundation.

"In some ways it's starting to make rehabs look like a joke and that's very sad because hundreds of thousands of people a year are saved," he said.

While relapse is common in addiction recovery, celebrities often seem to operate by their own rules during their spotlighted struggles with alcohol and other drugs, seemingly coming and going from treatment as they please.

"I would hope that people understand that addiction is a very serious illness and that the perception in the public mind doesn't become that this is all a joke," said Jon Morgenstern of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. "In the last 30 years, because high-profile people have sought treatment, it's become more socially acceptable that people do have alcohol and drug problems and need to get help. So I hope that tide is not turning against us."