Originally Posted by Maylie

I missed the marathon but I sometimes pull it up on OnDemand. Sometimes I enjoy the show and sometimes I don't. It all depends on the person in the show and my mood.

I think the show has a really important part for love ones of the addict, the pre-intervention. I think it could do the loved ones a lot of good to hear what is said in the pre-intervention such as "if he doesn't go to rehab you need to stop picking up his calls, giving him money, or a place to live" and "you need to tell him that you love him but if he doesn't get help then you will move on with you life and he will not be a part of it". I must say, that part of the show ALWAYS has some good information.

I also think the pre-intervention and intervention are good for an addict to see too. When in the depths of addiction it is hard to think about anyone but yourself. It can be an eye opener to see the little old grandfather there upset and not understanding why this is happening, or the mother who has aged fast and is crippled by her son's addiction, or the brothers and sisters whose hearts break but know they can't go on any longer like this. It is heartbreaking, and hopefully it turns on a light bulb for some addicts that "hey i'm not just killng myself, i'm killing my family too".

As for exploiting the people on the show, they signed up and knew their stories about their addiction were going to be aired to the public. They chose to sit there and shoot up with the camera in their face. The only difference then them agreeing to be in a documentary and what happens is at the end they get a free trip to a really expensive rehab where if they wake up, they can really turn their lives around.

The one thing I don't like about the show is I wish they would show the ones that say no and what happened to them 9 months later like they do with the ones that say yes. Now THAT would be educational, not just he oh everyone says yes and gets better t.v attitude.