Send Dizzy a Tip!

Buy Me a Coffee

Season 7 Episode 1

Linda

Age: 39
Location: Los Angeles, California
Addiction: Fentanyl

What’s Memorable: Linda’s behavior is completely over the top and performative, she was obviously dealing with some serious mental issues at the time this was filmed that I sincerely hope were addressed once the addiction was treated. The things that her little brother Sam has to do to take care of her at her parent’s request are awful, that poor guy. The intervention is a doozy. There’s a lot to learn about Chinese family dynamics in this episode that I found really interesting.

Official synopsis: After graduating college, Linda found success working as an extra in Hollywood, achieving the glamorous life she always wanted. But her dreams died when she came down with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by joint dislocations. Linda started taking fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times stronger than morphine. As her painkiller use escalated, she claimed that different sources were causing her pain, including electricity, energy, colors, and even specific people. Despite Linda’s wild claims, her mother clings to the belief that Linda’s pain is real and she must do everything to help her, including depleting the family’s savings and sending her son to be Linda’s caretaker.

Original Air Date: November 2009

Interventionist: Ken

Comments
All comments.
Comments

  1. deafgimp

    You don’t “come down with” EDS. You’re born with it. http://www.ednf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1347&Itemid=88888968 Link is from the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation. Milder cases like mine are often not diagnosed until adulthood but you have episodes during childhood that are little clues. I would routinely dislocate joints and not realize it was a dislocation until I got older.

    1. marcy lily

      Sad thing is that she IS out of care and trying to claim she is a EDS Advocate and Pain Management Advocate . There are videos she posted herself a year ago where she is touching people , making turns and all around electricity .
      She boasted about living off the government instead of her parents now and denied ever mistreating family . Just sad . She is still highly delusional but living on her own . Still constantly complaining of everything dislocating her joints . Beds , the ocean , electricity ….. She obviously got off Fentinyl but did not stay with the help with her Delusional Disorder.

      1. M

        I know someone like her. Claiming she has every medical condition under the sun, desperately trying to get disability and invalidity, as she has said she doesn’t want to work. Tells lies and forgets the lies, desperate for attention. Everything that comes out her mouth is negative. It’s draining.

        I tried to help, she tried it on with my husband, so we distanced herself from her.

        It is really sad to see someone like this suffering from delusions. She needs serious mental health support.

        I hope her family and especially her brother don’t get sucked in again!

  2. Kevin

    Red: You don’t understand, this episode was about a woman with a severe delusional disorder where she believed she had EDS, complained of pain and was given prescriptions which she became terribly addicted to, which only worsened her mental illness. As the show unfolds, it becomes clear that a very dysfunctional family dynamic allowed her mental disorder and drug addiction to spiral out of control, nearly bankrupting her parents and taking over her brother’s life. If you watch the episode, as a sufferer of EDS, you will clearly – CLEARLY – see this woman is severely mentally ill and also not in the least affected by EDS.

    1. Terry

      Kevin, you have no clue what you’re talking about! I know Linda, and she is not delusional or severely mentally ill. Lots of doctors, who are given little to no training in diagnosing rare disorders, even those that are genetic and not that difficult to identify with enough information, will misdiagnose. Too many times, Ehlers-Danlos patients are told their pain is in their heads. Almost all forms of EDS are heritable in a dominant pattern, although there is always the first, or de novo mutation of the affected gene. There is NO CURE– ever. I have the vascular form, which is often life-threatening. However, even after multiple life-threatening vascular events, doctors overlooked my diagnosis until I was past 50, which, by the way, is also past the average lifespan. My daughter was accused of depression, when she was in the ER for head, back and neck pain, and episodes not unlike seizures, except she was conscious. They also accused her of seeking drugs. When we got pushy and demanded CT scans, guess what? She has an aneurysm in her carotid artery, and a dissecting iliac artery. Yeah, I’d say she had enough pain to ask for meds, but she told them she just wanted them to figure out WHY she had pain. When they did, they kinda freaked out. But they didn’t bother to look up Ehlers-Danlos…still.

      Linda was lied to and misled over what she’d hoped would be an awareness inducing episode. That’s a shame. It was edited out of context to achieve what the producers wanted. However, it HAS induced people to go online and look up the disorder. Maybe you should try that. You might be surprised to learn how many are affected by electronics…and how many of us affect electronics…street lights, tv’s, watches…etc.

      Linda gets messages of appreciation from folks who get an inkling about what their doctors have missed. Maybe, it will even help some folks get diagnosed.

      1. LeiLei

        I have EDS, too… and nothing on the episode is indicative of EDS. Sorry.

      2. Matt

        As someone who has had paranoid delusions I’d say that’s what is going! She’s at minimum bi-polar and OCD.

    2. marcy lily

      Clearly you are the only one who truly gets Delusional Disorder . The people thinking knowing her meant they knew for a fact that she had EDS is humiliating to intelligent people . It was very clear from a few minutes into the episode she did not have but was delusional and almost sadistic to her poor brother.
      There are several forms of EDS and they do not cause you to get electrocuted via flowers , parents or making left turns . When you have a disorder that causes joint location you sure as heck don’t dance around , outrun people or storm down the street and beat on a motel door to confront a mom who “makes you sick” .
      Dr’s do not over diagnose rare diseases but they sure do dole out the high powered meds to people in Hollywood , even if they a part actors or d list people . She found a Dr to diagnose the EDS then started doc shopping and visiting E.R.s to get tons of high powered narcotics . Notice she was not getting any therapy or real medical care . And how odd is it that she is still in Psych Care ?

      1. Minall

        I agree. from the first moments of watching this episode . it was pretty clear you were dealing with someone with more than a few screws loose. Dancing ,running,smileing for no reason. WOW this episode was a memorable one, especially the inervention itself. I sure hope she gets mental care soon and sticks with it.The quality of life can’t be happy thinking a garden your mother planted causes you pain and dislocation staring at them.

    3. Sue Ellen Hegstrom

      This episode was on YouTube for about a month, but has since been removed. It’s a shame, because it’s a perfect example about how everyone in a family comes together for this kind of activity, but there’s always one that just doesn’t get it and is easily manipulated. The mother meant well, but that daughter had her snowed. In the meantime, poor Sam lost precious time after college to start living his own life, and Linda was/is so delusional that she didn’t see how her thought processes were not logical in any way, shape, or form. Ken handled it very well. I like his style.

  3. marcy lily

    Please you are missing the point and what was the core of the matter . In treatment she was found NOT to have EDS but Delusional Disorder . Still believe all her lies ? Watch her YouTube video where she is doing everything she said she could not do and uses her electricity filled computer to fight with people .
    She is living on her own unassisted , swimming in the ocean and playing around while still claiming she has a debilitating disease . She is most certainly delusional . Really watch her Intervention .

    1. Alela

      I didn’t believe her for a second.. swimming in the ocean while claiming to have a medical disorder? yea she is clearly crazy

  4. Kevin

    It’s quite obvious that Linda comes back to this bulletin board in different guises to “defend” herself. For someone who is so “affected” by electricity and radiation and colors that she screams in pain, she spends an awful lot of time in front of a computer with a color display screen. It’s blatantly obvious to anyone who can see it that she was completely delusional, that she was strung out on a very powerful drug, and she was coddled by a dysfunctional family that allowed it to get so outrageously out of control that she would, with a straight face, claim that colors of nearby objects could cause pain in her joints, whether she has EDS or not. And no, Linda, no matter what you post here, there is not a single, solitary shred of proof or occurrence or basis in any scientific or even pseudo-scientific reality that backs up one iota of the crazy you spout. But there are millions and millions of volumes of scientific proof that delusional people often hallucinate, or lie.

    1. Duke

      Lol that is the first thing I thought when I read some of the comments on here of people defending her. You hit the nail on the head!

  5. Sandra

    No one is saying that she is not in pain. Addicts do not know how to live in a drama-free environment. There is a thrill in the chaos. That is why these forums are so appealing. As Kevin said before, Linda is known to create various usernames to start debates on these boards. When I used to be on the A&E main message board, she was on there picking fights with people in various threads… not only hers.

    She is very sick and I hope she gets the help she needs.

    1. Shay

      Well said!

    2. Chris

      not all addicts are like that though, there are plenty of “silent” addicts who either cut themselves off entirely from the outside world, or hide their addictions entirely so that no one ever knows (until they die suddenly much to the surprise of everyone)…not all addicts are attracted to chaos and drama

  6. Melody Royal

    When a person has a disease that causes pain, using high levels of pain meds is NOT additive, it’s called trying to live a life with pain. And yes the persons need for more medication increases as it is less effective for the pain. This does NOT make them an addict. I don’t care how much medication it takes for a person to have a good quality of life. People who have diseases/syndromes/disorder that include pain, need to be and should be provided as much pain medication needed. Really, stop and think about every time you move, EVERY TIME- you feel intense pain. Pain meds in these cases are not abusive. Take care Red & DeafGimp.
    Melody

    1. Mr. Ashton Charles Stone

      Melody, When you are in severe pain you can and should take the amount of Meds to relieve the pain, but while you are taking the Meds you need to get treatment for the cause. When a teen is diagnosed with cancer they will take pain Meds but not forever. I like how every defending comment is different women and one continuous defense. Laughable, as an alcoholic with almost a decade of sobriety I feel for addicts trying to get clean because it is the worst.

    2. marie-claire pinet

      Linda (Melody, Terry : nice try), I hope you’re fine and happy.

    3. Lisa

      If the person is under hospice care then I would agree with you. But this woman is out running around and actually out running all of her family members…. I’m sorry but you can’t be in debilitating pain and do that. Your body wouldn’t let you do it because the pain would be so bad you would fall down. Common sense should tell you that!

  7. Abs

    EDS is not hard to diagnose, and it is RARELY debilitating. I have it, have all my life. My daughter has it as well. The majority of cases have joint elasticity and will eventually have some joint pain, etc. The other versions in which severe pain is encountered are extremely rare and are accompanied by severe heart issues which are impossible to mis-diagnose. A simple echo will show it. This woman is so incredibly sick – but not one lick of it is physical.

    1. ErinL

      Cheese and rice! ABS (does that stand for A-lotta Bull Sh*t?!), if you truly believe what you wrote, you have no idea what EDS really is, and at the most have Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. I am 32 years old and have been in severe pain since I was 14 years old. I have over 2′ of scars throughout my body from various surgeries, the most recent of which was a spine surgery in December which was done to correct problems that, in my neurosurgeon’s words, “Looked like they happened as a result of a serious trauma.” Within the next couple of years, I’ll also need brain surgery to remove the top vertebra so that the pressure on my brain from Chiari can be relieved. At 30 years old, I had to leave a job and career that I’d spent nearly 10 years going to college for, and I will never be able to work more than a few hours a week again.

      Currently, I take 5mg-325mg Oxy/Acetaminophen 4x/day to help control the pain. I also have severe/advanced DDD throughout my lumbar spine, severe/advanced DJD in my SI, and I will need yet another spine surgery within the next 5-10 years when the little bit of disc material that was saved during the last surgery is gone. Every single one of those problems is a direct result of EDS. I can literally bend my fingers to the back of my hand like they’re made of silly putty. I’ve had doctors offer to prescribe more, and my GP had to talk me into even taking Oxy at all, but for me, it means that I can get out of bed and do something here and there vs. watching life pass by through a bedroom window. I know how to live with pain and simply need pain meds to take away the super severe pain (level 9-10 on the pain scale). At no point in my life will the pain get better, though, and unfortunately, I will have to increase the dose at some point. It’s not ideal, but I’ve accepted it, and to read your absolute nonsense is insulting given how hard I’ve had to fight to be where I’m at. You and your daughter are lucky, and if you do have EDS, your pain level is the exception and not the rule.

      Though I know Linda through several EDS support forums and agree that she appears pretty whack-a-doo on the show and maybe a bit of a drama queen in the support groups, my career field is in the videography/photography industry, and I could shoot a documentary about anyone commenting in this forum and make them look completely nuts, as well. Is sensitively to electricity a real thing? I have no clue; I’m not an expert in the field, and unless I’m missing something, neither is anyone else who’s posted here. What I do know is that EDS is very real, and if anyone disputes that, I’d invite them to live in my body where my joints are constantly dislocating, or experience what it’s like to have vertebra slip out of place so often each day that in less than 30 years, my spine looks like a 90-year-old ex-gymnast’s.

      As for only Vascular EDS (vEDS) being painful? I don’t have vEDS, but I do have vascular symptoms—most with EDS have crossover traits to the various types. The thing is, people have spent their lives fighting the stigma that you invoke and support by saying that most with EDS aren’t in pain.

      I cannot fathom where you’re getting your info that EDS is easily diagnosed. The problem is that most docs don’t know what it is or how to recognize it. You’d have to be delusional to believe that EDS is an easy diagnosis! Despite seeing over 30 specialists in my teens and twenties, only two came close to diagnosing EDS. One was an ortho who said, “I think your problems are due to hypermobility” and then left it at that, and the other was a PT who said, “You know, hypermobility isn’t always a good thing. There are actual hypermobility syndromes.” In the end, though, it was me who had to look into it, bring the info to my doctor, and say, “I score a 9/9 on the Beighton and have all major and most minor Brighton criteria. Is this what’s been wrong the whole time?” Since that time, my diagnosis has been confirmed by the best geneticist on the west coast, the best neuro-muscular surgeon in the U.S., an award-winning neurosurgeon, an excellent rheumatologist, etc. Each and every one of them would call you out and tell you you’re full of it if you think that EDS isn’t a painful syndrome. So to say that the pain isn’t real or is rarely seen in EDS is basically a slap in the face to me and the thousands of others whose lives have been destroyed by the genetics of faulty collagen.

      Believe what you want about Linda, but anyone who is certain that she doesn’t have EDS without ever even meeting her has no idea what it’s like to go through life knowing that something is wrong while one specialist after another concludes that it must all be in your head. The day I got my official diagnosis was amazing, not because I want to have EDS but because it felt so good to have a name for why my body is falling apart and to know that I’m not alone. Personally, I don’t like to judge people without actually knowing them, so unless I end up meeting her in person, it’s none of my business whether she does or doesn’t have EDS. I truly hope that none of you have to deal with what it’s like to not be believed while your life crumbles around you. I know exactly what it’s like, and I would never want to be the cause of anyone else feeling that way.

      That’s all I have to say. My words probably won’t make a difference or matter to anyone, but I can’t stand by and let others believe your nonsense. I’m not going to just not say anything while you talk about your atypical experience with a syndrome that has darn near ruined my life and the lives of everyone else in my family. Those who’ve dedicated their lives to raising awareness about EDS and its realities deserve better than the slap in the face you dole out when you trivialize it with outright lies.

      1. C

        OMG longest internet comment ever!!!

      2. marie-claire pinet

        Linda (Melody, Terry, Erinl nice try), I hope you’re fine and happy.

    2. Melissa

      EDS is often disabling. I have EDS (classical) and I am severly disabled, have been for years. My geneticist sees MANY disabled EDS patients. You were referencing Vascular EDS (there are ten types, that we currently know), that type often has much less pain but a short life span due to aortic rupture.

  8. Abs

    Honestly, you would think if you pick a disease to claim – you would google it or research it a teeny bit before taking it so far. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ehlers-danlos-syndrome/basics/symptoms/con-20033656
    This is not generally characterized by pain, and if and when it is, it’s arthritic. Adults RARELY dislocate – mostly children do and outgrow that symptom. You should have picked a disease characterized by pain if that was the goal. And if you have vascular EDS – you also have all the symptoms wrong. Check Mayo, WebMD…even Wiki would make one more knowledgable about EDS than she is.

    1. Sheilah Kring

      ABS, where do you get your claim that it’s not characterized by pain and when it is it is arthritic, and that “adults RARELY dislocate” and that children outgrow that symptom? None of that is on the website that you linked. The pain includes arthritis, but as someone who knows a lot of people with EDS (and who has it personally), I know most of them are in chronic pain, and plenty of it is due to joint dislocations or subluxations in one joint or another. Some also have arthritis, but there is nothing to substantiate your pain. There is also some research to show that the hypermobility subtype of EDS is the most prone to both dislocations and pain (in fact research believes chronic pain is near universal in that subtype), and it also is the most common subtype of EDS.

      But I also know that no researchers can make any of your claims because they aren’t even certain how many people have EDS since they suspect many have been misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed.

      Here is one review that gives some overview from the NIH:
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3512326/

      Now, as far as Linda is concerned, I don’t know her or her doctors. I do know that the testing for it and diagnostics are pretty rigorous and it would be pretty difficult to obtain a diagnosis of EDS if one didn’t have the features of it. I haven’t seen her records, but if that was the primary dx for her disability it would mean that at least one doctor (a geneticist likely) would have had to diagnose her.

      This is not to say that she doesn’t also have a delusional disorder or some other disorder. I’ve never heard of someone having dislocations due to color or people (who didn’t physically hurt them), but I have heard of people having increased symptoms due to psychosomatic symptoms. This is more likely the case, and she was probably more likely making associations due to stress with increases in her condition. It is sad — because she may have started out without these symptoms, but because the doctors are so bad with diagnosis and treatment (and actually there ARE treatments to help the joints at least for some people but the FDA won’t recognize them), when people become overmedicated, deteriorate, lose their lives and support, and are living with that much chronic pain, it can either cause or exacerbate psychiatric symptoms. This isn’t to say that people shouldn’t be given pain management either, but it would be nice if people were given options and holistic care to manage pain and even have some hope to get better.

      I am a bit dismayed, though, to see this much ignorance being spread on a thread about EDS. It can be very painful, it can manifest in a number of ways — and people can have more than one thing (in fact, often they do with EDS). In this case, maybe she did also have a delusional disorder — but I don’t think it doesn’t mean necessarily that she didn’t have pain that was real.

      Bottom line, though, regardless of this woman’s situation — don’t spread misinformation about EDS. It is likely affecting someone you know, and it could end up hurting them.

      1. Lhamo55

        Thank you. Thank you and thank you again.

      2. ErinL

        Kudos, Sheilah. Anyone with EDS would know that ABS doesn’t have a leg to stand on or know what they’re talking about. It’s nice to see someone else replying with intelligence and common sense.

        Should anyone want proof that I’m not Linda, I’d be happy to provide it. I am not her, only know her through association, and will likely never meet her unless both she and I both end up at the EDNF conference at some point.

        Speaking of the EDNF conference, why would medical specialists and thousands of people dedicate their lives to helping those with EDS if it weren’t a serious, painful, and debilitating syndrome? There’s an entire center full of world-renowned specialists whose sole mission is helping those with EDS (all types, not just vEDS). If you want proof, look up the EDNF Conference or National Center.

        As for proof of pain caused by EDS? A simple Google search will provide you with plenty of answers:
        http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24487572/
        https://www.inspire.com/groups/ehlers-danlos-national-foundation/discussion/connective-tissue-eds-and-head-and-cervical-pain/

        As for it being a syndrome that only causes dislocations in children? I welcome you to read the diagnostic criteria here:
        http://www.physio-pedia.com/Ehlers-Danlos_Syndrome

  9. Shay

    IT IS CLEARLY LINDA POSTING THESE REDICULOUS COMMENTS!! AND IT IS REALLY PISSING ME OFF!!
    I looked her up to see if she is still in a care facility as she clearly needs to be due to her mental health …as someone who has spent the last 18 years of my life educating myself and later educating and helping others effected with these terribly dibillitating dissorders and diseases, because I myself am suffering from EDS, as well as Rhuematoid Arthritis. I know what pain and suffering looks like and feels like on so many levels it’s indescribable… Let me say first I have never doctor shopped, my doctors work in harmony with each other, as should all doctors of people effected by pain dissorders/diseases!!!!!
    Mental disorders are often side effects of these types of illnesses, However, they are due to the suffering caused by the illness!!! I’m not saying you can’t have OCD and learn your a diabetic, or be a bi-polar and have arthritis…..
    What I’m saying is Linda’s mental illness seemed to develop in her mid to late twenties like many serious mental illnesses, everything else was, is, and will always be the effects of her mental illness!!! The horrible, ugly, manipulative, idiotic and REDICULOUS way in which she behaved was a result of her drug use and how it clearly worsened her mental health. Addiction can happen to anyone and let me say for the record…YES YOU CAN BECOME ADDICTED TO YOUR PAIN MEDICATION, AND YOU WOULD KNOW THAT IF YOU WERE BEING TREATED BY A PROPER DOCTOR YOU WOULD KNOW THIS, IT IS A RISK WE ALL TAKE WHEN TREATING OUR ILLNESS WITH NARCOTICS.

    1. marie-claire pinet

      Shay, as someone who helps others, I don’t find a lot of empathy towards Linda. She’s ill. I suggest you never to help drug addicts. As Jeff Vanvondering says, ” you suck at it”

  10. Lissa

    This episode was totally enlightening to me. My grandmother acted just like her, except for the drug abuse. She did it get attention, which I knew all along, but my poor grandfather catered to her crazy whims for 30+ years. She believed she was allergic to everything including gas. She made them move to Wimberley Texas and build a completely natural home, nothing made of petroleum products. One Christmas she wasn’t getting enough attention and she claimed she needed a massage, so we had to find her a massage therapist – on Christmas Day. She was also as much of a jerk to everyone around her as Linda is.

    Then she had a massive stroke and her whole personality changed. She became the most loving person, who never asked for anything.

    I knew all along it was attention-seeking, but now I think it was also a delusional disorder. Wow.

    1. Alex

      I don’t know your grandmother’s case personally, but my mother was like this. She was also severely abusive of me when I was a kid. She has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and sociopathic/antisocial tendencies. She constantly craves attention, regardless of if it is good or bad. My father and I are also convinced she is a drug addict, but she claims she is not, even though some of the claims she makes are very clearly untrue (she has said things like, “I’ve never taken more than thirty pain pills in my entire life!” when she is prescribed pain medication monthly, and goes through it in a week or two. She usually has multiple prescriptions.) It also seems like she has Munchausen’s Syndrome, and when I was a child, she would give me medications to induce side effects and make me sick, then run me to the doctor’s or hospital. Eventually doctors began to think *I* was the one doing it for attention. When she lost custody of me when I was 14, all my medical problems (except for an undiagnosed case of gastroparesis) went away, and suddenly, she started to make all these bizarre, medical claims. She has a whole list of allergies, aversions, etc. that she clearly does not have. She also claims she is “dangerously diabetic” and will die if she does not take her insulin, yet rarely ever takes it (she’s actually just borderline diabetic – she will exaggerate real problems just for attention. Currently she’s stuck on the diabetes thing, and frequently calls my father claiming absurd numbers of blood sugar levels that, if she actually had, she would be in a coma, or need emergency medical care.)

      Linda’s behaviour in this episode reminded me a lot of my mother, although it seemed obvious to me she had a delusional disorder. She seemed to truly believe the things she was saying. To me, it is sad, because there are people with EDS who doctors fail to diagnose, and even think are “crazy” when they actually have the syndrome. It’s amazing to me that so many people with real illnesses fail to be properly diagnosed, or are misdiagnosed with psychiatric disorders they do not have, yet this woman slipped through the cracks.

  11. Recovered addict

    I hate addiction. It truly takes everything away, causes family misunderstandings and hurts EVERYONE.

    Recovered addict

  12. Tiffany

    This episode made me angry. I have EDS. I am in agonizing pain every day. I feel like this lady had some major personality defects as well as mental disorders and delusions. It made me sad to have my serious disease associated in that way. I wish so badly that I could run, dance, fight or any of those things that she did. I just felt myself being embarrassed that by the fact that people who are uneducated about EDS would relate her actions, claims, beliefs to me or any other person suffering from this very real disease. I am by the way mediated with narcotic pain meds that I take completely as directed. I am dependant on this medicine but I am not addicted. There’s a difference in the two. It is separated by a fine line that is easily crossed. I do have a tolerance to my current treatment because I have been on the same dose for 2 years. I dread talking to my medical team of doctors about changing the plan. I hate being on pain meds. I never wanted to be bc I never wanted to be considered a pill head and be misjudged or lumped together with people who abuse meds. Without meds I would not have a life worth living. I don’t think I could cope. Coping as it stands means using wheelchair most days along with bracing multiple joints, splinting fingers (thank god for dragon).

    1. Lisa

      I am so sorry. I do not have this but I do have chronic pain and it completely changed every single thing in my (used to be) life. I have grieved so much for my then life. Your comment reminded me of myself. Taking pain meds every single day sucks but without them we wouldn’t have any type of life at all.

  13. Sarah

    I’m a little late on this discussion, but here it goes anyway: EDS can cause pain, or at least so I read, but from what I read the primary pain management is not a boatload of fentanyl lollipops everyday all day, but physical therapy, and short-term pharmacological pain management during a dislocation or what have you. So in conclusion, even if this was a real diagnosis for LInda specifically- which I don’s believe for a second it was- then it was an excuse to be an addict to fentanyl. And these doctors need to take better caution when prescribing pain meds. Lets try some non-pharmacological management first, then build up if needed.

  14. Mollie

    I’m watching this episode right now. I feel terrible for her family

  15. Ally

    I was very moved by this episode. Sam is by far the sweetest son and brother anyone could ever ask for. My heart hurts for him. May he be free to live his life and may he have found someone with a great as big as his to be with.

    1. Wendy

      She took advantage of her parents and her brother to get what she wanted, including a home in California. She was one of the most manipulative people I’ve ever seen! She played on everyone’s sympathy and lied to get meds. Every time something didn’t go her way “ow ow ow”. I felt sorry for her poor brother who didn’t even get to have a life of his own. She was discussing how he had to feed her, bathe her, wipe her ass and even put feminine pads on her and she was laughing. When he was discussing it, it looked like he was wanting to cry! I know EDS is real- but I don’t think she had it. I think she’s enjoying having everyone do everything for her. If she’s in so much pain why is she running, screeming, climbing on the van, etc. I hope her brother has a life now!

      1. Alex

        I was rewatching this episode, and the part where she laughed about her brother taking care of her made me so angry! I have chronic pain and severe psychiatric disorders as well, and my father sometimes had to take care of me, and sometimes, my partner has to take care of me – including giving me a shower, even. When I think of those things, it makes me feel very sad, and makes me feel bad, even guilty, that I have burdened them so much. I could not believe she was laughing about it, and seemed to have absolutely zero genuine appreciation.

      2. Katie

        Anger was literally radiating off of that poor kid Sam’s body in just about every scene! What a mess. It was nearly intolerable to watch how she treated her family and how entitled she feels she is to her “pain.” I thought Ken did a great job with the intervention.

  16. Stephanie

    Or Sam Linda’s brother single?

  17. Loren

    all i have to say is, poor Sam. The man is a saint and deserves a medal. Linda was so controlling and manipulating to not only him, but their parents as well. I couldn’t even stand to hear her put her parents down anymore or talk about her childhood and when she had to work. BIG DEAL. Grow up Linda. The past is the past and without your parents you wouldn’t have had the house you live in or any of your fancy “therapeutic tools.”Even worse, she never thought about how she was making everyone else work so desperately to help her. Seeing a grown adult sitting on a bed, sucking on a lollipop and acting worse than any child I know is just sad. Mental illness is not something an individual can handle on their own and i understand that, but I have to say..I give it up to Sam because just watching her made me want to snap.It always makes me wonder why individuals with mental illness can’t stay on the psychotropic medication they need long enough to have an effect but they will self-medicate with these drugs that doctors prescribe. Its sad we still live in a world where because a drug is prescribed by a doctor to manage pain, it is not considered dangerous. Most of those pills are more addictive or powerful than heroin. So sad. She needs psychiatric help desperately and I hope she gets the treatment she needs.

  18. lorraine

    I have been curious about Linda and how she and her family are doing. I would love a valid update on her and her family, especially her Mom and brother.

    1. Alex

      Me too. I hope her brother has gotten away from her. I understand that he felt he was obligated to take care of her because of cultural/family reasons, but in this case, it was just too much, especially since she apparently is still in denial about her real, actual problems. It’s the way I was raised, but it’s hard for me to understand why someone would take care of someone who acted like she did. Taking care of someone who is psychologically ill, and an addict, and/or in legitimate pain is one thing. But taking care of someone in this much denial? Then again, I’m often surprised by the family members on this show, and the enabling they do. My father never gave me money for drugs, would never drive me anywhere to get drugs or help me get them, tried to control my medications and would fight all day long with me just trying to get extra pills from him (rarely ever giving in), constantly try to prevent me from getting them by taking away my debit card so I could not get money when the bank was closed, and eventually, kicked me out. The most enabling he ever did was pay off my negative balances in the bank, and he eventually stopped doing that near the end. The things family members do on this show is unbelievable to me by itself, but this episode? I can not imagine it. I felt so bad for the brother.

  19. Dhalia

    Sam Sam Sam… I am soooo sad for what you went through. I wish the show had payed for you to get treatment yourself, at one of these nice places for codependency or whatever ailment it was which, through your parents, caused you to remain with her. You were barely an adult when you moved in with her, I’m thinking between 22-25? I too would have lacked the maturity wisdom strength whatever you call it to have stood up for myself against cultural norms. This show I felt was about you as much as it was about your sister. I hope you have found some healing and relief from the natural anger which I am certain grew inside you all those years. You deserve so much for your caring heart which was manipulated. I believe your brother should have interviewed on your behalf more… Perhaps he did but they cannot possibly fit everything into the show. The hurt and pain was visible on your face, I hope you know that you are a very compassionate souk, I think that if you didn’t have a good soul you would not have lasted so long there. But i am so happy you got,out, I don’t know why but your story really affected me and even though I have never gone through something like that I can relate with the psychological aspect of it with you to some degree. Hope you’re sis is doing better too.

  20. brooke

    It’s clear she is lying because if she really had pain for electricity, why would she even agree to be videotaped? It was all for attention

  21. christiepoppet

    Dhalia,
    The show did get Sam therapy.
    Thank goodness.
    It spoke of it during pre intervention and at end.

  22. Rhee

    Oh, Linda. Stay with me here because this is looong!
    I’m a member of an EDS awareness group she “started” awhile back, hadn’t even known she “created” the group at that point but soon found out. She’s since been removed and blocked for inappropriate behavior/actions” by the admins she chose herself.
    We chatted on and off, and at first I thought, she really got shit together but is still kinda “out there” yet.
    As time went on it was pretty apparent she was either off something, on something or both. (As of late 2015)
    EDS is very real, and can be crippling depending on type or severity. I know because I live everyday with this. It also is multi symptomatic in many cases. You don’t “come down with it” either it’s genetic. (Very rarely have they found one to be the creator of the “mutation”)
    I honestly believe, after abusing her “lollipops” for so long it greatly diminished her mental state of mind.
    She may have real pain, no doubt. But very VERY exaggerated.
    For her family, Sam, he went above and beyond any young brother should do.
    Her mother, no real words. So much noted denial and confusion.
    Dad, I have some faith in him. I hope between him and Sam they can hopefully one day get mom onboard.

  23. Jordy

    Good god, now I finally know what the big deal is about this episode. The family dynamics in this episode remind me a lot of what my mom went thru as a first generation American coming from Okinawa. My mom and my Aunt literally had to work since they were 4 and 5 years old to support the family. On one hand, I understand Linda’s resentment, how she and her siblings feel robbed of their childhood, but I have never, ever witnessed the level of enabling and denial that was in this episode. Beyond Linda’s severe addiction and delusional disorder, I cannot believe that she would think she is so sick that she would have to have her BROTHER do the things for her that he had to do. That is just sick and cruel. How subservient and repressed is her brother to put up with that for 8 years?! I cannot imagine that he came out of this unscathed, and I hope he was able to have a life of his own. It’s crazy to see a grown man obeying his parents and his sister in a manner like that. Linda feels resentment for having to work since she was a child, but Sam literally had no quality of life for himself as an ADULT. It made me very sad for him.

    Linda is mentally ill, yes. But man, do I have a hard time separating her mental illness for just being straight up evil. She would trade her entire family’s lives if she could so she would no longer be in pain? Giggling because her brother had to tape a maxi pad to her? No. Just, no.

  24. Sandra

    Glad she got off the drug, sad she never got real help for her delusional disorder! 10 minutes into it you can clearly tell she has some mental issues. Anyone that can move that way then walks by a flower and all her joints dislocate only to jump up and run like she’s an Olympic track star need help. I’ve seen people in pain and she seemed to be delusional more than in pain. Good luck to her!

  25. Aly Davis

    I can’t even. All I know is that I hope she got help. And as for sam? Graduate college just to turn into a slave for his sister? Run dude. And don’t look back. Live your life. You deserve a great one. I have respect for you.

  26. Lolo

    This is Linda in 2012 – I randomly found it while looking up follow ups and it looks like she has her own YouTube channel, although I didn’t check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHa3rhhppO8

    It looks to me like she’s doing much better based on the video? Hopefully.

    1. anonymous

      She physically seems well but recently gas started on her opiate seeking behavior again and on her awful Facebook she has started attacking Ken and Intervention all over . According to Linda Ken was fired after her episode ( cause Linda is so powerful and well connected ) and has never been allowed back on Intervention and still has no job . Any single one of us here knows that is a blatant and dumb lie . Ken never got fired . He took a break to concentrate on other areas in the industry and he came back . He did not get in trouble for her intervention as her episode showed she is/was addicted to opiates to the point that she was injecting Fentanyl lollipops somehow , she was a mean manipulator and was obviously having issues with a psychiatric illness and a personality disorder . She tried to latch onto a Chiari diagnosis for sometime and was trying to insert herself into Chiari patients support groups .

      I will be honest ,Linda will always be right behind Gabe Green as far as awful and unlikable subjects for this show . She is why legitimate pain patients get looked at funny from everyone now . Her issues are purely in her head .

  27. Janelle

    Linda is clearly psychotic. According to the postscript on her episode she was diagnosed with an [unspecified] “delusional disorder” and institutionalised. Although she did come across as manipulative, hostile and dislikable, you can’t fault her for her behaviour because psychotic people have little to no control over what goes through their head and comes out their mouth. In all likelihood the fentanyl addiction was her attempt at self-medication to lessen her psychotic symptoms. Same as with Cristy and Skyler.

  28. Sonny Gotanno

    I was in a residential institution with Linda. I do believe she is delusional.

    While she is quite convincing that her body is constantly falling apart and she is extremely affected by electromagnetic energy, I believe it is purely subjective. I have no experience with EDS so I have no opinion. It’s just that her symptoms are way too inconsistent for what she claims.

    If she was THAT sensitive to electronics, she would have to be in some sort of grounded metal cage. But she was always walking around :-/

    1. Sue Ellen Hegstrom

      I am so sad for the whole family…nobody wins, and Linda most of all.

  29. Lexy

    I found her on Facebook and it appears that she is still in deep denial about her addiction.

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000565026743

  30. Holly

    Checked out of Facebook page. Funny, she claims electronics and electricity physically hurts her body yet she is posting stuff almost everyday as well as posts about going to concerts and stuff like that. This girl needs some serious psychiatric help!!!

  31. FrenchBug

    It really seemed to me in this episode that Linda’s issues were primarily neither her addiction nor her EDS: it is her mental illness. Everything flows from that. She might very well suffer from EDS – but most of what she says she experiences based on that diagnosis is a fragment of her mental illness. Someone with a delusional disorder could easily latch on a real physical illness and build it up to be blamed for everything and anything.
    And I feel similarly about her addiction tbh – it seems she takes the Fentanyl to feed her own self-delusions of being ill more out of the kind of craving we see in other addicts.
    All in all, Sam is the one who I really hope is doing well now. He is cute and clearly has treasure of patience and loyalty so I hope he found a way to rebuild a life for himself. He also provided one of the rare moments where I actually laughed watching the show when Linda suddenly claimed turning left was painful: “Then turn right three times”

  32. Anonymous

    I’d love an update on Sam! Sam was good looking, kind and sweet. Sam- call me lol

  33. Brooke

    what a raving lunatic linda is!!!!! just WOOOOOOOW!!! her poor family, especially her brother who lost many years of his life being a slave and getting treated like shit!!! he looked so defeated.

  34. Blair

    This woman is my neighbor. She is still very sick, but has improved a lot from how she was on the show.

  35. Kerri

    I just saw this episode on Vice the other night…how her mental illness was overlooked for so long is a total shock to me. I hope she went to a place that treats both the illness and addiction. The intervention was just plain crazy! I hope all the family members healed and moved on. They were the worst kind of enablers.

  36. Sudie

    I noticed in one on-camera interview of Linda, she was crying, and then looking around like she wanted a reaction of some sort in the interview room, but it looked sneaky as all get out to me, like that “did they buy that?”

  37. Troy Morgan

    Gregory Valenzuela died of a fentanyl overdose.

    1. Sudie

      Was he in this episode?

  38. Erica Dee Fox

    I’m pretty disappointed that reruns of this are still being shown and available for streaming without a disclaimer. This episode reflects *so* poorly for EDS patients, as we can be stereotyped by healthcare professionals as being malingering or drug-seeking. It’s a really, really painful disease. Like, it sucks. From personal experience, I know that if I’m screaming in pain, I’m not gonna just turn around and run down a hallway three minutes later. Then again, I’ve never been on 1.4 milligrams of fentanyl in a single day. (Oh, to imagine.) (Kidding.) (Like, seriously kidding.)

    Regardless if she has it or not, the point is that she apparently appointed herself a spokesperson for the community and A&E gave her a platform to do that. An overwhelming majority of us don’t believe that flowers, colors, or cell phones cause us to dislocate. I would also hate if someone’s first impression of what an EDS patient is like is hearing someone say they would kill their own parents to find a cure.

    1. Melissity

      I agree with you 100% on all counts. I don’t have EDS or any level of pain syndrome but I can certainly attest to the fact that as a viewer, when I hear the diagnosis “Ehlers-Danlos” my mind immediately goes to this looney tune. I hate it, because I have met people with the diagnosis and they most certainly do not behave this way.

  39. Alice Schmid

    There are diagnostic tests that are definitive, using PCR to identify mutations associarted with EDS. I personally do not believe she had it, and is merely severely mentally ill.

    1. marie-claire pinet

      Shay, as someone who helps others, I don’t find a lot of empathy towards Linda. She’s ill. I suggest you never to help drug addicts. As Jeff Vanvondering says, ” you suck at it”

  40. Melissity

    I’ve seen this episode twice and as I’m going through my “intervention binge” (poor choice of words, I know LOL) I can’t bring myself to press play on this one. Her manipulation is horrifying. The most mind-boggling moment: Linda RUNNING down the street screaming during her intervention and her mother still believing “she’s in pain.” No. If she can RUN like that…. trust and believe there is nothing physically harming her. It’s all in her head and she loves every minute of it. No thank you to rewatching this episode. I hope her family has healed from her abuse, and I hope Linda has gotten some legitimate help as well.

  41. Cait M

    Sam, if you’re reading this, I hope you are doing great and have a fulfilling and amazing life!

    1. Bobbi

      The whole reason I’m here right now is because I need an update on Sam. I hope he is well and thriving!

  42. Gretchen

    This is one of the first episodes of Intervention that I couldn’t finish.

    1. Willa

      Fast forward to the Intervention…iconic

  43. Cathleen

    Just a side note. I happen to have a type of EDS I have commented on multiple other cases on here. I have a mutation in type 3 pro collagen, the type of EDS used to be called type 3. Is now categorized as vascular(if I’m caught up on the recent changes). One of my close friends has classical EDS. My experience has been of a disease that very rarely affects my day-to-day life and usually doesn’t cross my mind. I bruise easily, have visible prominent veins and sometimes I need to adjust exercises with my personal trainer. I was diagnosed as a older teen after a string of uncommon type injuries while figure skating. My friend with classical EDS had a surgery on one of her hips but she is mobile and not on Serious pain meds We are both in our early 30s.

  44. Cathleen

    Also, I have really noticed this disease is very attractive to internet malingering…. I’m not sure why. Maybe because the classical type is hard to genetically diagnose? Anyway since my disease doesn’t effect my day to day like I Rarely even mention it to Dr’s. They either don’t know what it is or have only heard it out of the mouth of patients with a litany of self diagnose diseases looking for meds or new diagnosis of things they don’t have.

    1. Jenny

      I think it’s popular to internet malingerers because

      A) It’s an “invisible” illness, so only testing can clarify whether or not you have it,
      B) It’s a potentially debilitating syndrome that often causes pain and discomfort, which garners sympathy
      C) For reasons A + B, that it is both invisible and potentially debilitating, it is a convenient excuse to avoid undesirable events and things, and
      D) For those like Linda, who are also drug addicts, it is a way to defend overmedicating themselves.

      I’ve noticed EDS is becoming SOMEWHAT less popular to fake in recent months, as opposed to a couple of years ago when loads of people were doing it. Now the hot illnesses to fake are DID and Tourettes. At least with Linda you can argue that a major issue here is a legitimate delusional disorder that impairs her perception of reality; the kids pretending to tic on TikTok are often doing it for clout, or because they’re convinced they’re qualified to diagnose themselves with major mental illnesses.

  45. J

    this episode was… damn. you know it’s bad when you’re on Intervention and drugs aren’t the main issue. i really hope Linda got the psychiatric care she needed for her and her family’s sake – as someone said, she seemed to have a lot of deep-seeded anger that her mental illness prevented her from expressing healthily. i hope she’s off fent at least

  46. KB

    I can’t find 200 movies and shows… I find like 17 American shows and then more Asian shows but they still don’t equal to 200… But I may be wrong.

    1. KB

      I just realized that the reason why I can’t find the 200 shows she’s been on is because she was an extra not really one of the actresses so her name wouldn’t be accredited to the show.

  47. KB

    I have missing teeth from doing meth 18 years ago and doing opiates seven years ago… I feel your pain!

    1. KB

      And I am still on methadone which is not good for your teeth.

  48. KB

    This link says she does not have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and she is giving false information and has a delusional disorder.
    I wish her well!

    https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1561882/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

    1. Jan

      Obviously not written by a professional. All those exclamation points and there’s a misspelling.

  49. Sam

    What Dr. Weinburg (whom Ken invited as a support during the pre-intervention) said about Linda’s Delusions really stuck with me. “I believe Linda has emotional pain, that’s coming from psychiatric problems, that she isn’t gonna share with you, so she translates it into physical complaints, that everybody can understand[…] and treat the emotional part of her pain”
    I’m pretty sure I’ve had people like that in my life and just perceived them as compulsive liars, when in actuality it was a huge cry for help. Also it made very clear to me that as a parent you have to be emotionally available and let your kids know that they can talk to you and that you will take them seriously, no matter how small their problems may seem to you, you’re gonna comfort them emotionally and help them through it.

    1. Ali

      I hope they ruled out/…in schizophrenia, that part really stuck out to me with her delusions and paranoias + she specifically made a comment about someone (family I think in one scene) inserting thoughts into her head. Sounds like the timeline of her behaviors escalating and functioning massively declining also line up with the typical age of onset, aside from the drug use increasing the risk. Also I concur the EDS is also a delusion, she would have so many injuries from her behavior in the show, especially when her brother basically tackled her but…. nope imma just stretch my groin because that’s not bizarre…

  50. Emily

    This is the only episode of intervention I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen lots of them) where I can’t find any inkling within myself to feel sorry or bad for this person. “ If I could have all of my family die to get rid of my pain, I’d let it happen.” Putting her brother through torture, and allowing him to bathe her, change her, and deal with her monthly cycle when she could dance around in her bedroom just fine! I’m disgusted and outraged! What a horrible individual. I hope Sam is living his best life and making all his dreams come true. He lost some of the best years of his young life. To all the people who live with true chronic pain and/or EDS, I’m sorry of the mockery she made of you. People like this are why people with rare illnesses aren’t believed by family and medical professionals. Sad.

  51. Taryn

    At the risk of being called Linda, I’d like to say that EDS can and does cause very debilitating pain.Ken saying it’s all lies in the intervention was hard to hear because I don’t believe it is all lies. She was diagnosed by a medical professional with EDS. I believe she’s in pain from her EDS while also suffering an delusion disorder and an addiction. Unfortunately her parents most likely had no idea about mental illness and she was left for 8 years just sitting in those delusions and getting addicted. I agree with several comments here that there should be some sort of disclaimer, because this reflects horribly on EDS patients and some of you have fallen quite deeply into “if you can move around you must not be in pain” bubble.

  52. Katie

    Also, there were some real comedic moments in this episode (MUCH needed with everything that was happening). When they would end or begin a scene with her laying on her back doing that obscene straddle move to help her hip or whatever. . . it did make me laugh. It reminded me of what’s her name from that other really famous episode. . . the one with the girl addicted to the computer duster and the producers would similarly include her huffing or whatever at random moments.

    1. Stefan

      Allison is who you’re thinking of.

      Another hilarious part in this episode is Sam’s “then make three rights” comment solution when Linda said she couldn’t make left turns” LOL

  53. stephanie

    Looks like she’s been going to lots of concerts this year…so much for the electronics thing

  54. Cindy

    Sam is an angel, and I hope he’s found happiness. This episode literally had me fuming. I have a rare genetic disorder and ut took me a decade to get proper pain management for it, due to people like this woman.
    I loathe all like her.
    But her especially with how she treated everyone around her. My husband has to help me with everything now, and I feel terrible for it daily. To see her laughing about it had me seeing red.

    I hope the family has found healing.