Season 16, Episode 3 Kathy Age: 51 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Addiction: Crack, alcohol What’s Memorable: Kathy is obviously a very smart, vibrant, fun, strong woman when she’s not high or trying to get high. She had ROUGH childhood, and adulthood for that matter, so it’s not shocking that she
Season 17, Episode 1 Katherine C Age: 28 Location: Syracuse, New York Addiction: Crack (primary) What’s Memorable: The well-meaning parents so profoundly and tragically enabling of their daughter’s addiction. They’re in it deep, repeatedly paying lip service to creating boundaries but never able to do it, right up until the last
Season 15, Episode 17 Brittany Age: 27 Location: Derby, Kansas Addiction: Heroin What’s Memorable: Brittany’s relationship with her dad is really moving. The guy seems so damn cool and a really good father, despite his addiction. I had a lot of respect for his willingness to go to treatment to help get his daughter
Season 14, Episode 12 Erin Age: 36 Location: Bradenton, Florida Addiction: Dilaudid Legacy Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWOsE98v38 Official Synopsis: Erin spent her teens and 20’s as an A-list rock-n-roll groupie, but a prescription to relieve neck pain got her hooked on Dialudid. Now her mother raises her 5 year old son while Erin prostitutes herself to
Season 14, Episode 6 Samantha Age: Late 20’s? Location: Randolph, New York Addiction: Heroin, Xanax What’s memorable: The crazy webs of lies she gets herself into to get money for drugs, the “friend” Rich who is definitely NOT a friend, the horrific rape she suffered as a young teenager, the dad saying “I
Season 14, Episode5 Daniel Age: 29 Location: Omaha, Nebraska Addiction: Alcohol, some meth What’s memorable: This kid had a rough life, no surprise he drinks too much. But wow does he drink too much. And the way he gets when he’s drunk: self-absorbed, messy, emotional, intimidating, dominant. I’ve known a lot of people who
Season 14, Episode 3 Samantha C. Age: 24 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Addiction: Heroin What’s memorable: The horrifying things she went through as a girl, her not knowing that Hep C is sexually transmitted, and that long and brutal intervention. The fact that Ken actually let her shoot up just so she
Season 12, Episode 13 Kelly Age: 27 Location: Harbor City, CA Addiction: OxyContin and meth What’s Memorable: The man who raped when she was a kid (her sister’s boyfriend) went to jail for raping someone else and is about to be released. Her need to escape is understandable. The way
When Kristen was 3, her parents divorced and soon after her grandparents died, and Kristen somehow felt responsible. Then Kristen's mother married an alcoholic and addict, whose daughter introduced Kristen to drugs. By 15, Kristen was getting high.
Season 13, Episode 4 Gina Age: 33 Location: San Antonio, Texas Addiction: Heroin What’s memorable: The mother, oh dear god the Mother. In contrast to Kaila, the other addict in this episode, no one watching this story would wonder for a second how or why Gina became an addict. A heroin addicted
Season 12, Episode 3 Katie Age: 25 Location: Porter Ranch, California Addiction: Alcohol, Bulimia What’s memorable: How her parents can’t figure out where she gets the money to buy alcohol, the married boyfriend that’s 30 years older and was her customer at the strip club, how skinny and unhealthy she is, the
Now 53, Richard has kept a traumatic childhood event secret all his life. As early as age 11, he used alcohol to numb the emotional pain. As an adult, he was diagnosed with diabetes, and his health problems were exacerbated by his drug and alcohol abuse.
Amy grew up feeling unloved and unable to meet her parents' high expectations. She was also molested by a neighbor when she was eight, but never told anyone in her family. She began to self-mutilate and restrict her diet, and by 17, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Now, Amy
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.
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.
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.
Emily, 26, grew up struggling to meet her parents' high expectations. Despite winning many academic and athletic honors, Emily suffered from depression and low self-esteem, and her shameful feelings intensified when she became a date-rape victim in college.
Laney is an outgoing, intelligent 36-year-old woman who used to have the kind of life other people dream of: a handsome, loving husband, plenty of money and the opportunity to travel the world. Unfortunately, all the wealth and status in the world could not help Laney escape alcoholism.
Season 7, Episode 6 Sarah Age: 23 Location: Pasco County, Florida Addiction: Oxycontin What’s memorable: The old guy boyfriend who takes care of her and really truly seems to love and care about her. He’s sober and wants her to quit using; he honestly doesn’t realize how he enables her. I was
Heidi leads a busy social life and takes great pride in maintaining her health and personal appearance. Unfortunatley, she is addicted to plastic surgery and compulsive shopping. She cites that while she was raped at the age of 16, she blames no one for her need to "fill the void."
Season 6 Episode 8 Andrea Age: 29 Location: Milwaukee Addicted to: Alcohol (Rum) What’s Memorable: Everything she’s given up in order to just hang out on the couch and drink, how dependent she is on her mother. Official synopsis: While Andrea was growing up, she yearned for a relationship with her mostly absent