INSIDE BEN’S REHAB BATTLE

Ben Affleck resists as loved ones urge him to go back to an inpatient facility

Ben Affleck looked relaxed, smiling as he walked out of LA’S Refuge Recovery, which describes itself as providing “a Buddhist path to recovering from addiction,” on Oct. 11. It was the third day in a row he’d stopped by, and he’d visited at least twice the week before too, eyewitnesses confirm.

But for Ben’s loved ones, it’s not enough. They are urging the actor to go back to an inpatient rehab program and to stay for longer than he ever has before. Ben, who completed two stints in rehab for alcohol addiction, in 2001 and March 2017, has in recent weeks been seen drinking whiskey and Coke at an Emmys afterparty and leaving an LA liquor store clutching a brown paper bag. “He is now worse than ever,” says an insider, adding that some of the people closest to Ben “are begging him to go back to rehab and get serious treatment.” But Ben, 45, has been resisting. “He believes he can stop drinking at any time,” says a source, “and that he can handle himself just fine.”

His girlfriend, Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus, 37, had been drinking and partying alongside Ben. But she’s started to realize he needs help, the insider says, and has joined the chorus of voices pushing for him to go to inpatient rehab. His estranged wife, Jennifer Garner, 45, is staying out of it, though, convinced Ben needs to decide on his own that he needs more serious help.

PUTTING OFF REHAB

Ben’s not there yet. “Excuses are a huge aspect of the disease [of addiction] and Ben always has a reason not to go back to rehab,” says the insider. Lately, that includes work. “He has numerous projects coming up, and of course he is saying rehab will have to wait.” He believes brief outpatient visits to the LA recovery center are enough. He’s also been photographed with a mystery woman recently, and many have speculated she’s a sober companion. But experts say he needs more intensive treatment. The standard protocol for an addict, explains drug and alcohol counselor Alicen J. McGowan (who doesn’t treat Ben), includes a minimum 30- day inpatient rehab stay, followed by intensive outpatient treatment five times a week for three hours a day for two to three

months, plus continuing treatment after that. Addicts who resist inpatient rehab, she tells Life & Style, may not “want to face their own demons.”

Ben knows people want him to check into rehab, and “takes their concerns seriously,” insists another source. “Ben is still trying to figure out what feels right for him.” Despite the battle, loved ones aren’t giving up on Ben. “Everyone is hoping he will realize he has a problem and get the help he needs,” says the insider. “Until Ben decides to get help for himself, he will never be able to live a sober life.”

“Ben doesn’t... think he has a big enough issue to be checked into a facility.” — a source