During a recent interview on the Today Show, Dr. Drew Pinsky shed more light on his “Celebrity Rehab” reality series, premiering this Thursday:

“People are very focused on celebrities and their addictions, but they don’t know what this means. Celebrities are more likely to have addiction and personality problems and trauma issues than the average person. People seem to focus on that and they’re very confused about what these people are going through when we bring them to treatment.

The reality is, it is very hard work. This is not uncommon. This is what treatment is about. This is the tough, miserable work people have to go through.

They’re the same as the rest of us. They just have very, very severe mental illness.”

Participants in the Celebrity Rehab program are: Jeff Conaway, Jessica Sierra, Brigitte Nielsen, Chyna, Jaimee Foxworth, Seth “Shifty” Binzer, Mary Cary, Ricco Rodriguez and Daniel Baldwin.

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew premieres on VH1 this Thursday at 10 PM.

Check out this sneak peek video of Celerity Rehab.