Season 5

Episode 79: Anthony

Anthony
Age: 22
Location: Wayne County, Indiana
Addiction: Alcohol (vodka)
What’s memorable: “It’s a sick love affair and I’m a hopeless romantic.” – Anthony. Oh, Anthony. Such a sad lost soul. His alcoholism is so advanced for his age, he’s been hospitalized 12 times in 3 months for alcohol poisoning. And what a mess he is when he’s drunk. He’s got a very sad and tragic story, never feeling welcome in his own family and losing his brother after taking care of him and even donating his bone marrow. The followup is uplifting, really hope it took.

Official Synopsis:
From an early age, Anthony’s father made him feel worthless. His parents divorced, and his mother remarried, but she was still unhappy and turned to alcohol and drugs. It was little wonder, then, that Anthony began drinking at age 13. Another blow came when Anthony’s younger brother died of leukemia. Anthony spiraled downward, and now he drinks half a gallon of vodka a day and takes whatever drugs he can find.
Original Air Date: January 2009

Episode 83: Tiffany

Tiffany
Age: 20’s
Location: Undetermined
Addiction: Alcohol (vodka)
What’s memorable: Hospitalized 20 times for alcohol-related injuries – Yikes! How her parents are both alcoholics but deny that that has anything to do with Tiffany’s problem. How AMAZING she looked after treatment – her followup video is a must watch.

Official Synopsis: A tall, beautiful brunette, Tiffany maintained a perfect GPA in high school and played Varsity basketball. But despite her achievements, Tiffany’s childhood was plagued by her parents’ violent marriage and their drug and alcohol abuse. She married at 19 to escape the pain of her youth, but her controlling husband forced her to move back in with her mother. Battling feelings of worthlessness, Tiffany self-medicated with alcohol. Now, she has been hospitalized numerous times for alcohol-related injuries and has attempted suicide.
Original Air Date: July 2008

Episode 83: Nik

Nik
Age: 35
Location: Seattle, Washington
Addiction: Heroin
What’s memorable: How isolated he’s become, so distant from his loving and forgiving son.

Update: A friend has let us know that Nik died on November 29, 2014 after having surgery.  Read more here. 

Official Synopsis: Beloved by his five sisters and his teenage son, Nik 35, was the glue that holds his large family together. He was a proud college graduate who became the director of a multi-million-dollar casino chain at a young age. But now Nik is a homeless drug addict. Four years ago, after a debilitating back injury, he became addicted to OxyContin. His addiction worsened and he turned to heroin. Now Nik has lost his job, his home, and custody of his son.
Original Air Date: July 2008

Episode 67: Derek

Derek
Age: 35
Location: Ontario, Canada
Addiction: Alcohol

What’s memorable: Memorable to me as the only episode of Intervention that I turned off halfway through out of sheer annoyance and still can’t watch the whole thing. I don’t actually even know what happened to Derek in the end. Did he go to treatment? No idea. Why? Because Derek is portrayed here as one of the most insecure, pathetic, selfish, inconsiderate, shallow people I have ever known of in my life. Maybe he’s not that bad in real life, I dunno. I just don’t want to participate in his story, as portrayed in this episode, in any way.

Official Synopsis: He was once a championship bodybuilder and successful property owner. But when he turned 30, Derek felt he was over the hill and became severely depressed. He started drinking to cope with the pressures of marriage and the responsibilities of getting older. His beautiful wife left, and now Derek’s days are all the same–he sits in his dark basement, smoking and drinking and bemoaning the loss of his wife. He narrowly survived one suicide attempt and his family is worried he’ll try again. An intervention is their last hope
Original Air Date: August 2008

Episode 76: John C.

John C.
Age: 21
Location: Tuscon, Arizona
Addiction: Eating disorder – Eats things he most certainly should not eat as a diabetic. Also, he seems a bit addicted to attention and to being sick.
What’s memorable: “Sometimes I think he just wants to be the sickest one in the house.” – mother with MS and Lupus. The whole thing with him going out with friends from work and being all excited about having some people to hang with, and then no one shows up…that’s just depressing as hell. Poor guy, so embarrassing to have that happen on camera. Is he suicidal because he has no friends or does he have no friends because he’s suicidal? I hope he’s ok now.

Update: Sadly, John passed away on September 30, 2014. Read more here.

Official Synopsis: John has type one diabetes but refuses to be diligent about checking his blood sugar, or taking his insulin. A social misfit and an outcast for many years, John wants to be considered a regular guy, and pretends to be one by eating whatever he wants without regard for his illness. He has been in a near-coma and hospitalized multiple times. His parents want to stop enabling his self-destructive behavior, but won’t kick him out of the house because they fear he’ll die without their supervision.
Original Air Date: January 2009

Episode 80: Angelina

Angelina
Age: 25
Location: New Jersey
Addiction: Heroin, Xanax
What’s memorable:  The fact that she signed a DNR so that the next time she overdosed they wound’t save her. Her seemingly paranoid accusations against her mother than turned out to be pretty much true. The way her “recovering addict” mother sits with her when she’s high and makes her talk so that she knows she’s not dying of an overdose. How much guilt her mother feels. The amazing post-treatment transformation. She looks SO MUCH BETTER. It’s funny, you don’t even know how terrible these addicts look until you see them sober.

Official Synopsis: When Angelina was eight, her family grew apart over an argument about money. Her mother turned to prescription drugs and cocaine to deal with the stress. After graduating from high school, Angelina became her younger brother’s legal guardian, but she was overwhelmed by the job of taking care of her brother and addict mother. Angelina became addicted to OxyContin and spent her trust fund of $350,000 on the drug. Then Angelina turned to cheaper drugs and heroin to support her habit.
Original Air Date: February 2009

Episode 73: Casie

Casie
Age: 25
Location: Texas
Addiction: Primarily meth, but she’ll do pretty much anything that gets her high. She’s also bulimic.
What’s memorable:  How everyone waits on her hand and foot and tiptoes around her constantly, and she’s completely abusive to them. And the boyfriend John. Oy vey! So weak when it comes to her, so enabling. And what the hell was with him watching her as she got ready for a date, after driving 7 hours to see her? Makes me wonder if it was an escort-type date, not a real date. Not confirmed, just guessing. Also it’s interesting that she got addicted to drugs because they were a way to lose weight.

Official Synopsis: Once a successful hairstylist, Casie now works in a small-town salon to fuel her $500-a-week meth habit. Casie’s childhood was marred by her mother’s drug addiction. Suffering from low self-esteem, Casie became bulimic and an addict. She lost her career, her life’s savings, and her husband. Casie’s mother now tries to make up for Casie’s difficult childhood by enabling her, even at the cost of her own marriage. Casie’s boyfriend, John, also an addict, is desperately trying to keep her alive. Casie’s drug use is taking everyone down with her.
Original Air Date: January 2009

Episode 85: Sharon

Sharon
Age: 51
Location: Texas
Addiction: Self-injury (hits herself), plastic surgery, shopping
What’s memorable: Sharon hits herself with her hairbrush in the head, in the stomach. She tried to kill her dog in the toilet, and she still spends everyday with her grandchildren. No one has any idea what’s going on her her head. It’s hard for anyone watching to know what’s going on in her head. Needless to say, her self-esteem issues have seriously affected her life, yet she seems like a really good, caring, sympathetic person.

Official Synopsis: A 51-year-old grandmother, Sharon is a compulsive shopper who has undergone numerous plastic surgeries to feel better about her appearance. She also feels she must hit herself. She has bruises on her thighs and stomach and repeatedly hits her head with a hairbrush. Now things are getting even worse. Sharon recently got the urge to drown one of her Chihuahuas; she didn’t harm the dog, but now Sharon’s daughter is terrified that Sharon might try to harm her grandchildren. Sharon’s dangerous compulsions need to stop.
Original Air Date: March 2009

Episode 84: Sandy

Sandy
Age: 40’s
Location: Gloucester, Massachusetts
Addiction: Alcohol (vodka), pills
What’s memorable: Her husband, also an alcoholic, beat the shit out of her and then got sober 9 months ago. And Sandy loves him more than anything, just wants him back. Also, the completely vacant look Sandy always has on her face, and the lovely daughter that takes care of her – I just want to hug her.

Note: Sandy passed away after she left treatment.

Official Synopsis: By her late 20’s, Sandy had achieved the American Dream. She was married with four beautiful daughters and owned a home she and her husband built themselves. But today, Sandy’s life is unrecognizable from what it once was. Her days consist of combining prescription drugs with a pint of vodka, and relying on her daughters to monitor both her diabetes and drinking. Her speech is slurred, and she’s been hospitalized several times. Her family has only one option left–an intervention.
Original Air Date: March 2009

Episode 81: Lana

Lana
Age: 24
Location: St. George, Utah
Addiction: Alcohol & Pain pills
What’s memorable: Lana makes the Most Disturbing list on account of what happened to her only 6 months before the episode aired. I can’t begin to imagine the feeling of watching yourself being raped for 5 hours on video and not knowing it ever happened (she was drugged). I understand why the police showed her the tape, but I can’t help but wonder how different things could have been if she didn’t know it ever happened. I just don’t know how I would feel in her situation. It’s so upsetting to even think about. Also memorable: the darling, sad little brother who takes care of her, her very decent family that just don’t get it, the violent boyfriend, the sheer amount of wine she drinks.

Official Synopsis: Lana grew up in a family of 11 children, and her older sister introduced her to drinking at the age of seven. Despite this precarious start, Lana excelled in sports and was active in the church. But at 18, Lana began to enter into dangerous relationships with men and started abusing drugs and alcohol. She was in two near-fatal car accidents. And now, too make things even worse, she is in a relationship plagued by physical violence.
Original Air Date: February 2009

Episode 82: Chris

Chris
Age: 34
Location: Delaware
Addiction: Alcohol (vodka)
What’s Memorable: Chris and Shawn’s story absolutely breaks my heart. Chris was in so much pain over being treated as less-than because his partner is a man. What he wanted more than anything was for his relationship of 15 years to be recognized as a legitimate one and his family just couldn’t do it.

Note: Chris committed suicide while under the influence of alcohol. Read about it here.

Official synopsis: Born into a family with traditional Catholic values, Chris struggled with his sexuality until coming out at 18. Now, at 34, Chris feels that being gay has cheated him out of the things he wants most–marriage, children, and inclusion in his family. He drinks first thing in the morning to ward off tremors, he’s abusive to his partner, and he can’t keep a job. His father believes Chris should be able to stop drinking by sheer force of will, but his mother believes that genetics is to blame for his alcoholism. Can the family overcome its divisions and work together for Chris?

Original Air Date: February 2009

Episode 75: Janet

Janet
Age: 40’s
Location: near Portland, Oregon
Addiction: Alcohol, sex
What’s Memorable: A gallon of wine a day! The glamorous drug dealing life she had before, the crusty old boyfriend, what a hot crying mess she is ALL THE TIME, the amazing followup.

Official synopsis: At age 6, Janet was molested. She was also bullied by other kids, making her extremely self-conscious about her looks. At 18, she married a drug dealer who made her rich, but her husband was sent to prison, leaving her alone with two sons. She turned to drugs and alcohol, and had multiple affairs. Her husband discovered one of her affairs and divorced her. Janet remarried and had two more children, but she missed her old luxurious lifestyle and began drinking heavily. Now she frequently passes out, threatens suicide, and puts herself in life-threatening situations.
Original Air Date: December 2008

Episode 78: Brittany

Brittany
Age: 20’s
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Addiction: Dilaudid
What’s Memorable: Oh this poor messed-up girl, living her whole life under the shadow of her older sister, to the point that her mother thought she may be the reincarnation of her. She was also molested as a kid and gang raped as a teenager – it’s not a mystery why she needs to numb out. I just hope she was able to find her way out and figure out who she is.

Official synopsis: Brittany was born five years after the brutal rape and murder of her 9-year-old sister, Terry. Brittany struggled with the pressure to live up to her mother’s perfect image of Terry. At 12, Brittany was molested, and she began taking drugs and sneaking out at night–anything to get out from under Terry’s shadow. Now she shoots up Dilaudid six times a day, begs family members for money and prostitutes herself. Brittany’s mother scrambles to give Brittany enough money for her fix. Desperate and on the verge of bankruptcy, Brittany’s family prepares for an intervention.
Original Air Date: December 2008

Episode 74: Nicole

Nicole
Age: 32
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Addiction: Dyspahsia- not swallowing, also pain pills
What’s Memorable: She hasn’t swallowed food or liquid in 14 years! I mean seriously. Not even saliva. That’s disturbing enough, but her inability to swallow is a traumatized response to being forced to perform oral sex on her friend’s father when she was a child. The man who did is admitted to it, got probation, and still lives in her neighborhood, triggering her over and over. Her parents did nothing when it happened. And now everyone just tells her she should get over it and move on, that she’s just looking for attention. No one in her life seems to have any kind of sympathy for her, they just think she’s disgusting. I mean she clearly needs help, she’s very unhealthy, and she’s been resistant to getting that help, but I just think that if her family could get a grip on WHY she is the way she is, and that she needs their support and not their judgment, she would be more willing to get better.

Official synopsis: After being molested as a child, Nicole developed an unusual eating disorder–she was unable to swallow. By age 16, she weighed just 68 pounds, and doctors inserted a feeding tube into her stomach. The tube was supposed to be temporary, but 16 years later, Nicole still relies on the tube and can’t swallow any food or liquids. She also abuses prescription drugs and neglects her two daughters. Her husband plans to divorce her if she continues to neglect their children.
Original Air Date: December 2008