In or out?

I'm not sure what to make of America's penchant for airing their dirty laundry in public. Is it as therapeutic as they think or more damaging to the self esteem in the long run? I saw a woman who was an alcoholic talking about her experience 2 years ago when she was a drunk and misbehaving and it was all taped for the Oprah show and shown on national tv. Today she is not an alcoholic anymore, but she's lost her whole family after the show and I'm sure faced a lot of stigma. Was it all worth it? She got better, probably due to social pressure...but at what cost? I suppose the road to recovery very often comes at a price...