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S8E6 Lorna

Season 8, Episode 6

Lorna

Age:  52
Location: Los Angeles, California
Addicted to: Crack
What’s Memorable: Lorna had some sweet moves, she was quite the Soul dancer. And she’s been addicted to crack for 30 years, which doesn’t happen often. And her poor son, born addicted to crack.

Official synopsis:  Once a Hollywood success story, Lorna is now a crack addict. She danced on Soul Train and for the “Ike and Tina Turner Revue” in Las Vegas, then landed a big job at A&M records. But the music industry party scene led to drug addiction, and she even abandoned her three children. Lorna needs to get clean and make amends with her kids before it’s too late.

Original Air Date: August 2010
Interventionist: Candy

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  1. Jennifer

    Oh Lorna. I pray you are healthy & happy once again. What an amazing family. I hope the best for you all <3

  2. Nicole

    This is probably one of the most heartbreaking episodes I’ve watched. Lorna had been addicted to crack so badly and for so long that it seemed like not only did she have an addiction, but narcissistic personality disorder as well. I say this because my mom has NPD (she’s never been diagnosed however my psychiatrist and many therapists have expressed that to me.) NPD can come as a result of childhood trauma, and Lorna had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a family friend for 4 years, ages 7-11. If she did/does have NPD, it was probably as a coping mechanism as result of the abuse. The cornerstone characteristic of NPD is the inability to empathize with others, as well as have an inflated sense of self importance, and needing to be the center of attention. A prime example is when Lorna was watching Soul Train on YouTube and wanted Aamina to watch and Aamina sat in the background so unphased. My mom does the exact same thing except with her journals from her “glory days” (which she wants to publish btw). She would dramatically read them demanding i listen with baited breath, hanging on to every word. This is one of many examples where it was painful for me to watch because of how it effects me and it hurts me to see how much it effects her kids, and even her as well. This is the first intervention I’ve seen where the person who left was a family member and not the addict! In the hallway Aamina made a comment like “did she actually listen anything we said?” Something I ask myself on a daily basis. And I could relate so much to everything that was said to experiences I’ve had with my own mother. Another one being when more than one person asked, “why does everything always have to he all about you?” After she twisted it back around onto them. I ask myself this all the time. If I say it out loud she will run and tattle tale to my dad, “Jooohhhhhnnnn!!!! She said that I…. And I never/always… John handle it!” Although my mom isn’t an addict, I’ve expressed many of the same sentiments as Lorna’s kids, including wanting to commit suicide because I don’t feel lovable. If my own mother can’t truly love me, then how could anyone else? The way Lorna handled the intervention, by turning everything back around on them is something my mom does any times she is confronted with something. Nothing is ever her fault, and how dare you for having the audacity to even consider such a thing! I could relate to the pain Lorna’s children were feeling on such a personal level. That being said, I feel like Lorna is like the ultimate success story because after she had been in treatment for awhile, the NPD characteristics seemed to have melted away, or at least lessened quite a bit. Perhaps she worked through her trauma and it sort of worked itself out, idk. Regardless it’s a miracle! Her therapist made a comment that she was struggling to come to terms with how much she had hurt her family, which to me sounds like she is finally realizing it’s not all about her. Maybe it was all her addiction, and Lorna never had NPD but regardless it is EXTREMELY rare to be able to work through NPD and learn the skill of empathy. I have so much respect for her for being about to set her pride aside and do that! I am so proud of her! I know that the last updates on the episode were from 2011, but I really hope she has not only maintained sobriety but her ability to empathize with others. I hope that she and each member of her family especially her kids have a great relationship now! Lorna you are awesome, and an inspiration and a true success story! I hope you are healthy and happy today!

    1. Kelly

      rRobbie did the same thing in his episode watching City High videos in their bedroom and trying to make his wife watch while she was trying to sleep. So Cringe.

  3. melissa

    just saw this one tonite on lmn. it said she relapsed in 2012.

  4. Grace Colasurdo

    What has happened to Lorna and her family?

  5. Michael

    Where is Lorna now in 2016? Any update?

    1. Andy

      She relapsed but has been sober since 2012.

  6. Lorna copper

    I’d Love to know too!

  7. Jet

    I Loved this episode. What an amazing family. The pre-intervention and the intervention both had me in tears. So much personality. I really hope Lorna has managed to stay clean. Wow what a groover she was in her younger days! I enjoyed this episode immensely.

    Re: The NPD suggestion. I really don’t think you can say from the clip of Lorna watching herself on Soul Train and urging her daughter to watch too that this is her exhibiting the pathological need for attention that comes with NPD. It seemed perfectly normal to me. That was her in her glory days and we all like to reminisce over and share these moments with those we love, or want to impress etc. Especially so when your life has since been a massive fail.

    I wish you all the best Lorna. I’d love to hear how you’re doing now.

    1. Nicole

      I was the one that made the NPD comment, and you are right. One example of her showing her daughter her old vids on YouTube isn’t enough to get a diagnosis, and if she is anything like my mom and has NPD, then I guarantee her daughter has already seen those vids countless times and doesn’t want to see them again. The way Aamina reacted made me think she probably had seen them countless times before. I understand looking back on that type of thing every now and then, but reliving the “glory days” as often as my mom does is not healthy.

      A lot of the things Lorna did on the show that I related to NPD are hard to put into words, more like an attitude or vibe, and something most people likely wouldn’t pick up on unless they are exposed to NPD and know they are being exposed to it. For a majority of my life, I didn’t know I was being exposed to it. I didn’t know what NPD was and thought I was crazy, wrong, bad and my mom was right, good, and could do no wrong (now I know she just gets away with things through manipulation and deceit) and that I was supposed to be different so she would love me. Now that I know about it, I am able to work through it and learn to accept that my mom never was and likely never will be able to show me and my siblings real, true motherly love. It’s been a long road, and I am still working on it.

      One thing I forgot to mention in my first post is that addiction can appear to be NPD on the outside, but once a person stops getting high some or all of the NPD characteristics melt away. Addiction puts you into survival mode, and when you’re in that mode you think of yourself first due to human nature/survival of the fittest/etc. so people with addictions seem much more narcissistic than they are naturally.

      I wasn’t trying to say anything negative about Lorna, in fact the opposite. If she in fact does have NPD she appeared to overcome it which is amazing and very commendable. Most people with NPD won’t even admit they need help. And by help I mean working through childhood trauma and sexual abuse, etc. which has been linked to both NPD and addiction. If she never had NPD, then she may have seemed like it bc of her addiction but doesn’t now that she is clean. Either way, working through addiction is very commendable. I know first hand bc I am a heroin addict and am on methadone still working through my own addiction. When I was using I did shameful things I would never do normally, and I imagine the same is true for Lorna.

      Also, the way they edited the show makes a big difference as well. They probably put in the most dramatic parts (being dramatic and the center of attention are hallmark traits of NPD) to make the show more interesting but in doing so they didn’t show her in the best light.

      TL;DR – I meant no offense whatsoever by suggesting Lorna could possibly have NPD. In fact, the opposite. I think what she did is very commendable, regardless of having NPD. However, it is extremely rare for someone to overcome NPD so if she did have it or traits of it and overcame it, that is extra amazing! I am proud of her progress. I hope she and her family are doing well!

  8. Angela Alvarado

    I hope I’m not the only one who saw her amazing Legacy Update. Good for you Lorna. Good for you.

  9. Monique

    I just love your son. Just watched the show and I am crying. He is so sweet. I just love him. I need more information him please!

    1. Kara Bishop

      Me too!!!! He is so lovable and worthy of love!!! Would love more information on him too!!!

  10. Duane

    Episode 125 was a touching episode, one that I really connected with. I wanted to know how the children were doing after revealing their suicidal thoughts. I pray all is well. And I would love to connect with Celeste, I thought she really was a jewel to have stepped in as sister/ mother. Thx

  11. Cherise Lundy

    Jennifer, your comments and testimony really touched me. I hope you remained clean and feel loved from the lack of love received.

  12. Franklin

    This if probably the best episode of them all. This is one of the only families in the entire series that I actually liked. the grandmother’s statement during the intervention was probably the most eloquent and powerful of any that I’ve heard on this show. Seriously, everyone was so thoroughly likable, reasonable, and honest. Not one head case in the bunch. WATCH THIS EPISODE.

    1. Stefan

      Overall I agree, although her youngest daughter did seem a little bitter, but it was understandable considering she never got to experience Lorna when she was functioning.

      1. Kara Bishop

        I’m sorry but I don’t know why you would say she seems bitter. Try putting yourself in her shoes… I feel like this was the one time that I liked that the family members were yelling at their loved one. Even candy seemed to feel the same way. Usually Candy tells the family to lead with love and it seems like the family members never do that. But this was the one time that I felt like, it was more powerful to get their point across by letting Lorna hear their anger because Lorna wasn’t listening and was turning everything around to be about her. Of course I still hope that Lorna was able to stay clean, especially because her three adult children deserve a mother! I loved all three of her children and I just wish them the best and if Lorna wasn’t able to stay clean, it had nothing to do with them. They were all three the most lovable adult children. At first, I wasn’t fond of Lorna’s mother because she yelled at them and said “don’t talk to your mom that way she’s your mom!” And I felt like no she’s not their mom, but during the intervention what she said was very powerful and I understand her point of view. I would really love to hear how Lorna and especially her three kids are doing!!!

  13. Brooke

    wow, that intervention was emotional and went off the rails really fast, with candy even joining in and getting emotional. i thought they didn’t like for things to get too accusatory and attack the addict. and like for things to kinda stay on a script. i do love candy though. she really gets emotionally invested and CARES. lorna was really delusional thinking she was still someone special in the industry when she was no one. thinking she was not an addict and that she was unique and special and different from everyone else who smoked crack. ooh la la i drink sauvignon blanc (i think?)…yeah, out of a plastic bottle lady… come on! i do wish them all well though. what a great family but so much pain.

  14. Diane

    Yes I would like to know if Lorna is clean and sober today 11/2019

  15. JoBo

    One thing that struck me about this, when Lorna said during the intervention ‘I stayed away from you guys cos I didn’t want it to affect you!’ I’m sure every addict can relate to that, we don’t isolate to hurt are loved ones we do it because we don’t want them to see how low and sick we have become. If you have a family member who is an addict the worse thing you can do is tell them they make everything about them it’s triggering and hurtful as hell.

    1. Kara Bishop

      I’m sorry I don’t always agree with this. I know it can be the case. I am a recovering addict. I am also a daughter of a father who said this to me and when I later became an addict, I realize that now this probably wasn’t the case. Usually addicts are selfish and don’t want to be around their family because they don’t want to hear that they are hurting their loved ones because their loved ones are trying to tell them to quit using drugs and they don’t want to quit using so they stay away and then they use that as an excuse to make themselves look better when really, they’re staying away so they can keep using. Drugs usually cause a person to not feel empathy. They don’t feel how bad it is hurting their loved ones. And they don’t care if their loved ones feel hurt, at least not enough to listen to them talk about their pain. At least this is my opinion.

      1. Kara Bishop

        I don’t think I made it clear that my father was a drug addict when I was a child all the way to being a young adult.

      2. Kara Bishop

        Even Candy yelled at Lorna for trying to say she stayed away from the kids because she didn’t want to hurt them, Candy yelled “ no you stayed away from these kids because you’re an addict!” I love candy! She knows when it’s important to lead with love and kindness and softness… And she knows when it’s beneficial to lead with anger, which usually isn’t the case but in this intervention, I think it was very important and powerful! You can see the selfishness of an addict When I think it was Lorna sister that said “you got two kids in this room who want to kill themselves” and Lorna replied “ yeah, me too!” Which probably was the case, but she wasn’t listening and absorbing what her sister said to her! As a mother myself who is not addicted to drugs anymore, if I heard this, I would only be thinking about my two children and their pain. But because she’s an addict who is using and lacks empathy, along with maybe the fact that she did not raise her children, she only thought of her self. I’m hoping Lorna is living a life of sobriety, and able to be a loving mother that our children so desperately deserve! I really loved her three adult children, especially her son! I’m sending my thoughts and prayers to the entire family! ❤️

    2. Anon

      Did you hear anything Aminah said? Have you ever had a parent who is an addict? It destroys any sense of safety that a child deserves. Abandonment is one hell of a killer. I emphasize with my addicted parent especially now that I struggle with substance abuse, but that will never mean his abandonment of me both physically and emotionally was okay. It has directly contributed to my own addiction and fucked up my adult relationships. That’s triggering as hell too.

  16. Kara Bishop

    For everyone who wants to know how Lorna’s three adult children are doing, I don’t know, but I can tell you that they look like they are doing very well, happy, and healthy! (at least I hope!) There is a picture of all three of them together on Celeste’s Facebook with a hashtag that says, Lorna’s kids. It even looked like the grandmother commented, and therefore is still alive! I don’t wanna leave the link because I want to give them privacy. I will just tell you that I started from the link that someone else put of Lorna’s old Facebook page. And it did not take me long… I really cared for her children, so I am was hoping that I could find some thing about them up! Hope this helps because I am sure there’s others that felt the same as me!

  17. Katie

    I looked at her Facebook that someone posted above and it hasn’t been updated in about a decade…usually not a good sign. I also couldn’t find her kids through her page. I did some snooping around and found the daughter Aamina. She really looks to be a beautiful, strong, and successful young lady. It looks like her father died recently. Nothing on Amina’s profile connecting her to her mom Lorna, so I’m worried. Does anyone have any recent updates?

    1. Stefan

      I assume we’d know if she died because she was at least semi-famous even before appearing in Intervention.

    2. Tazz

      She seems to be just fine and looking great 😊
      https://www.facebook.com/lorna.cox.3726?mibextid=LQQJ4d
      If you look at her friends list, there is an older profile of hers; so it’s definitely her.

  18. Kelly

    this episode is such a gut punch. We all know BIPOC are underrepresented on Intervention. Lorna’s family, especially her children, were so brave with their honesty about having su*c*dal thoughts even after their grandmother said “Black people don’t do that.”

    1. Robo

      How are black people underrepresented on Intervention? What’s the ratio of black Intervention subjects compared to the percentage of the US population? Genuinely curious.

      1. Kelly

        A quick scan of the “Every Episode in Order” page through season 15 (where I am in watching the series) looks like roughly 30 our of 230 individuals featured are Black, Hispanic, Asian or Native. So that’s around 87% of individuals featured being white vs 13% BIPOC.