A&E's Intervention

[ZombieWife]

Anyone here watch this show? Just curious. I saw the episode about Cristy (the Meth addict) and God, what a heart-breaking thing to see. My heart really goes out to all the people affected by addiction, especially their loved ones.

I see a lot of happy endings on this show, but I always wonder how long they really last? If the happy endings are pushed and later they relapse after the money for treatment goes away and the support.

Thoughts?

[Callie]

Love that show - the only thing I don't like is that they show "recovery" like 2 months later. What about 2 years or 10 years? I know the show is not that old, but I'd be interested to see how these people do years later. It's sad to watch - even sadder that we're all living it.

[rozied]

Yes I have watched it. They did an Intervention on someone from the town where I lived. Her mom wrote in & was chosen. Two yrs later the woman is still clean & sober.
I was in touch with them about my son. If I could get him to agree to make a video I would still do it.

[faith08]

i've wondered that myself. i am always watching to see their sobriety dates and if it says they are still sober. i would like to see people with longer sobriety dates too. and maybe a few more minutes on seeing them sober at the end.
this is one of my favorite shows -- kudos to a&e for doing it.

[hope213]

i do not watch the show. it brings me to much pain. prayers for our addicts & all who love them.

[beegee]

I have tried to watch it but so far each show has been too sad for me to subject myself to. I think I turn it off before the sober parts get shown. I just get too emotional over it. I wonder when my ad comes home if she will watch that and if it will be a good thing for her.

[helpus]

Sometimes it's too much for me. Too close to home. So I am an occasional watcher, depends on the subject & my mood. There is a new show called the Cleaner, caught a couple minuets of it. Looks like it might not be bad.

[marle]

They do do update shows. Most of the people have managed to stay clean. I believe that for those who relapse and still want help, the show helps them get into a different rehab. Hugs, Marle

[JMFburns]

I am an occasional watcher and usually can't sit through the entire program. It is painful and I get resentful. I want that much support in trying to get my AS help. And . . . I want help for my own codependent addiction.

[Kimm992]

I watch it every week...I find it's really helped to legitimize many of the feelings I have about my addict mother.

[gotahavfaith]

My AD and I watch it every week. My daughter has 100+ days sober and her and I watched it before she got clean. I too think about what happens after the show, but I guess that where Just for Today comes in. The future we cannot know. So for today its good and I'll just take that.

[Alaia]

Originally Posted by helpus

Sometimes it's too much for me. Too close to home. So I am an occasional watcher, depends on the subject & my mood. There is a new show called the Cleaner, caught a couple minuets of it. Looks like it might not be bad.

I love intervention but it can be too much. The Cleaner is not bad :-)

[Alaia]

The one that really upset me was a special edition on heroin and was filmed in South Boston. Since I am from Ma, it was hard to watch. Also, there was a guy on there that had be to detox and re-had like 99 times or something crazy like that and it was just too much. my bf watched it before me (I dvr'ed it) and didn't want me to watch it cause he knew I was going to get upset. It made me lose hope that he might one day recover. It's hard to watch people shooting up on camera too.

[Impurrfect]

I don't watch it anymore...when they got very graphic, showing people hitting off of crack pipes, it made me really uncomfortable and I didn't need any reminders of that crap!! I know someone here on the F&F/alcoholics had one done on her husband and it aired earlier this month? I actually think it's a good show...just maybe not for some addicts (like me) to watch.....sets off some triggers.

I would love to see the Cleaner, but have to work that night

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

[Guinevere]

Zombie Wife,
Intervention is the one television program that I regularly watch. I actually remember the time, date and station number.

At first I hated all of the graphic depictions of drug use, but I am numb to that now. Through the addiction portion of the program, I started to understand the mindset of the addict. By watching the stories, I understand the struggles of my addict son. I realize that without some support/intervention/treatment/rehab, addicts cannot turn off that craving within their brains for their drug of choice. It doesn't happen like turning a switch and it takes time.

I will not watch the program around my AS. I agree that there are too many triggers.

Some portions of the program are helpful for me as a parent of an addict and help me understand my own co-dependence. In the pre-intervention and intervention portions, the family and friends gather for the intervention and discuss the consequences of the addict's not going to treatment. They state how the relationship will change. I have learned that families need to articulate these consequences if addicts elect to continue on their destructive paths through life.

I am always interested in the updates at the end of the program. I have watched some older shows that give more current information on some of the addicts. I watch for my own desire to understand.

I would like is for my son to have affordable, long-term treatment that would address all of his mental health needs. Intervention shows what happens when addicts get good treatment; it is still a difficult trip for most.

[CrushedbyCrack]

I just recently started watching intervention. It was a real eye opener as to what my AH must be going through. It is very hard to watch them actually using. I have never seen my AH actually use his drug of choice, and never want to. I always get very emotional at the end when the family shares during the intervention part. It gives me hope that maybe there is a chance for my AH to get clean. However, it saddens me that this type of help and treatment is not available to anyone who needs it. In our situation, our insurance does not cover treatment at all, and our income is too much to get state funded help, even though we struggle to pay the bills. It actually makes me very angry that everyone cannot get help like this.

I just watched the show the Cleaner the other night for the first time. I'm not sure if it was the first episode or not. Not sure when it started, but I was very upset that Benjamin Bratt's helper in getting people clean (who was in recovery himself) got so upset that his wife would not take him back that he overdosed on what seemed like heroin. Maybe he committed suicide. That part of the show at the very end really got to me.

[kj0975]

I like the show too. The one with the Lead singer of days of the new was interesting and he is still clean. If you visit days of the new myspace page he has his intervention episode on there. Its hard to watch yet informative.