Season 6, Episode 9
Danielle
Age: 33
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Addiction: Percocet, Self-injury (cutting, burning)
What’s memorable: 50 percs a day! Damn, girl. But Danielle is severely clinically depressed and suicidal and genuinely believes that she needs these pills in order to not kill herself. Also memorable: the husband who is still there because he made a commitment and will take care of her no matter what, the alcoholic dad who now drinks 10 weeks a year, and the mother who gives her her own legitimately prescribed percocet.
Legacy Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSFa3nHgEA4
Official Synopsis: Although she has two loving children and an adoring husband, Danielle is dangerously addicted to Percocet. As a teen, Danielle felt neglected by her alcoholic father and began cutting herself. Now she spends each day hiding behind closed curtains, ignoring her children, and self-medicating with up to 40 Percocet a day. An intervention is the last chance Danielle’s children have to get their mother back.
Original Air Date: July 2009
Interventionist: Jeff
Damn, girl she’s very pretty behind that mask
Anyone else stunned that they broke up so fast after she got better?
Yes and her husband has sole custody. That made me sad couldn’t find any other info on it.
im sorry but my dad did not “steal” custody of us. he won in court.
SOLE not stole is what she said.
Not at all . I wondered if she was like many other humans and fell out of love with a partner she married when most people are in college or sewing their oats and before her addiction got so bad . At any rate an addiction like that paired with marriage before mentally being ready at the very least would have not allowed a union to thrive. I wondered if part of her severe depression was also fed by feeling guilty over falling out of love with the father of her children but feeling like she was supposed to stay because that is what society says a mom has to do . Divorcing a spouse when your are in recovery and a mom to such young children has got to be devastating because no matter what the outcome is you are going to be judged ( and people have done exactly that despite her doing the impossible by beating a 40 Percocet a day habit , still having a healthy loving relationship with her lovely children and dealing with stuff I wouldn’t wish on an enemy ) .I honestly think she fell out of love long before the intervention but hung in there and being married to a spouse you are not in love with is a sad lonely feeling .
Even when you are an addict you have moments of very strong clarity and I am sure the guilt of knowing you are an addict , so depressed you can barely function added to feeling like you need to stay with a spouse you fell out of love with long ago . It has to add to the pain and need to numb yourself more and more . She made a very poignant statement when she clearly stated she was not scared of coming off the pills but the depression was killing her ( she was in greater fear of depression ) . I made a horrible mistake in judging this young woman when I know the guilty feeling of falling out of love with a spouse and staying with them because I felt like I was supposed to . She had a horrifying addiction and is so lucky to have survived it but she also experienced things sober people can and we all should be able to understand . We might not all have reacted in the same way but many of us know staying married to a partner we don’t love is not normal and could be a trigger that would have led right back to 40 pills a day . In the end it might be anything but perfect but it is better than those children having to see parents not in love and one so messed up she could barely move .
She does look so great and happy sober and I wish her the strength to continue her sobriety and to keep loving and being part of her children’s lives in a happy non-abusive way . When I really thought on the abuse she suffered because of addiction ( can we all just think on what an innocent child goes into physically by being thrown into a wall then what they suffer by trying to figure out what they did to deserve that or why their mom ignores or doesn’t notice it ) I was so proud of her for at least not following that path . Good job Danielle I wish you the love you deserve and am glad to see your children and you are happy and are a family .
SAD, Yea sure is , I used to go out with Danielle’s mother ( 1969-70) & she treated me the same way. Cheated on me , talked me into taking her back , then dumped me 3 weeks later. Maybe I had it coming , I could be a real ass back then .
But what really chokes me is when they both say they don’t need counseling , Unbelievable.
Oh and Janice was giving her troubled daughter Percocet , boy that’s just not a good Idea !
Kind of feel sorry about her mother living with an alcoholic for all those years & still is … if they would have gotten help years ago perhaps that little girl would have had a better chance.
The reasons ,I took running across this so hard is that girl looks almost just like her mother Janice did back in the late 60’s 🙁 same long dark brown hair , same hazel eyes……
God bless them I hope it gets better for them all , especially the children .
hi, I’m Danielle’s daughter, Jaida Duncan. I just want to say that my mom wasn’t happy with my father so she.. left. but everything is better now and now Haiden and i will visit both of our parents for a week at a time.
Obviously no one is paying any attention to your comments but I hear you! Your a bright amazing young lady and I am happy for both your mama and dad. Sometimes it’s healthier for all when parents separate. I had 4 children. My 7yr old died 10yrs ago to drowning and I have dealt with addiction with my 24yr old for over a decade. Overdose, facilities, rehabs and jail. She is in early recovery now and doing great. Don’t worry about any of these grown ups and their ignorant comments about a family they know nothing about. Just keep being awesome and give your mom my love, prayers and congrats!
God bless you and Haiden, and I hope you have a healthy, happy life and do not repeat the mistakes of your mother. Good also that everyone seems happier now.
I am so happy to hear that you and your family members are doing well. It is so amazing. Well done to you all. The situation was so tough beyond belief for different generations but as someone on the show said, it has ended with your Mum and Aunty’s generation and you all have so much knowledge, understanding, and humanity to offer the world. May God bless you all.
I know how your mom felt and what it was like I to was addicted to pain pills and then got my wife started on them. I also have 2 kids liveing and a son who died 5 hours after birth. But I was a crappy father husband the pills were the only thing that matter back then but by the grace of God I have been clean since aug 15 2013 and my wife been clean since aug 15 2018. I wish your mom the best and also you and your brother you two can play a important role in your mom’s sobriety I know my kids play a big part in mine am sorry to hear your parents got divorce but maybe it was for the best but God bless you and your family will be praying for all of you.
Hi Jaida, I’m so glad to hear that you have a relationship with both of your parents. Parents that are addicts make a lot of mistakes and some people will tell you that they chose their addiction over their children, which is not true, we addicts hope that we can not only keep our addiction but keep our children and love our children as well even though we may not realize how poorly we’re doing as a parent. I have a 20 year old daughter who can’t forgive me for the mistakes I made as a single father and she seems to want to inflict pain on me now because of the pain that I caused her. I understand it, but I can’t tolerate the pain. I’ve had enough and so we don’t have a relationship, saddens me, I wish we could just move on and I’m glad you have. I raised my daughter from the age of 18 months until she was 16 and ran away to my ex-girlfriend’s house who I had kicked out. The ex spent the last year of our relationship basically brainwashing my daughter and putting a wedge between us because I chose not to provide for her or continuing to be the fool after years of infidelity multiple times. At first I made excuses for the infidelity but then I woke up. My daughter only remembers the bad times none of the good times and gives me no credit for the excellent father that I was for 14 years. Sorry to dump all this on you sometimes I said if we don’t know the pain that were inflicting on those around us I’m glad that you were able to get past that and still have a relationship with your mother.
Just watched her episode. I’m so glad to hear she’s stayed sober and that her dad has also sobered up. I know those kids have a better mommy now when she sees them.
How do they possibly have a better mother?! This episode made me so furious the way she just abandoned her kids and ran off and had another one with another man. The scene where her daughter saw her after treatment was heartbreaking. I don’t know how she could just run off and leave those poor kids!
I agree, Julie. Even when her son said he is happy to see she “got her smile back” and hopes to always see that smile. What amazing kids! Sad she left those beautiful babies of her.
I agree, my heart aches for her children…her reunion with her kids was so heart warming. You hear what she says and are so grateful she has an opportunity to make the wrongs right… but to find out she leaves after just 5 weeks…really## who does that… her poor children are going to have to deal with her actions, leaving and starting a new family with someone else, somewhere else… I don’t know and can’t say what’s best for her two kids but I can’t see that situation impacting them negatively… God bless them and may God comfort them throughout their daily lives.
I was taken back by Danielle’s story on the intervention that aired tonight. I was so heart broken for the children, I had to look for her follow up story and found that her kids looked happy, taking pics with their dad and their mom. They are grown and seem really happy… my heart has been put at ease for her two kids and as long as their happy and loved that’s all that matters…!!!
Where did you see a follow up of them recently? I want to see where Rod and the kids are now. I was seriously heart broken. He deserves better and so do those kids.
.. We’re happy to an extent. but happy is happy. and i am glad that my parents broke up. My mom got together with a very generous man, and my dad got together with a beautiful blonde lady. I love them both as well as my half sisters and my Step-siblings.
Thank you
That is great to hear, Jaida!
Jaida – I am watching now and reading the comments and am so happy your mom and family as a whole has healed. I am also happy that your family has bonus parents that are more focused on creating family than destroying. That takes great love on all parts. Best of luck to all of you.
i found her on facebook. she seems to be doing well despite everything she’s been through. she has another daughter now, who was born with adams-oliver syndrome and speaks at fundraisers as well as starting her own.
apparently she sees her older kids every other weekend, but no word on her sobriety, although i firmly believe she is (:
fb-https://www.facebook.com/danielle.briseboisduncan?ref=br_rs
article- http://www.theprovince.com/health/Single+Surrey+raising+funds+daughter+with+rare+genetic/10809765/story.html
now it’s every week. life has calmed down for all of us.
Jaida, it is very generous of you to offer updates of your family to us. I hope that someday you will have a family of your own and that it will be everything good for you. I wish you peace.
Jaida Duncan. Don’t read these negative comments these people obviously don’t understand addiction. Your mom got help so she could be a better mom to you and some people find when they are sober that they have grown apart. As long as you and your siblings are happy then that’s all that counts. You and your family are in my prayers. I wish all all the best.
negative comments? have they been removed cuz i’m not seeing anything….
Pissed me off how manipulative Danielle was with her family. Especially her mom. Made me so angry to see her threaten her mom with self abuse. And those poor kids. I hope her kids and ex husband are doing well. This girl was as piece of work. Ugh.
That was the drugs talking and manipulating.
If you read through the comments here, you will find out how this family is doing. Danielle’s daughter has posted several times.
Agreed. That was my impulse response as well but then I reflect on how awful I was when I was experimenting with drugs in highschool and how terrible and rude and violent i was. That wasn’t me. It was the drugs.
Some addicts on this show still seem sweet but, you know what, it affects everyone differently. I was definitely an aggressive and mean and nasty person when I was at a similar point in my life.
It’s called mental health issues. Have some compassion. She got help, did she not? Jesus.
It`s sad what occurred here.But some of the blame resides with Danielle`s parents. When you grow up with drug abuse & alcoholism as the examples your parents give you, your chances of a normal life are reduced.These examples seem to have continued to be manifest in Danielle`s choices, alcoholic beverages replacing drugs , likely learned from her father the functional alcoholic .
Still all in all , we all make mistakes & while I see her parents as nearly as messed up as Danielle , I do applaud their willingness to sacrifice their reputation publicly to get help for her. its just to bad it went that far.
`Our children do what they see us do , not as we tell them to do !
God Bless Them!
some of the blame?!?! Did you miss the part about her father viciously assaulting her and her sister. That man is a monster and her mother is a hardcore enabler. they literally have driven their daughter to suicide.
I am sorry but this was definitely my least favorite episode. Very hard and annoying to watch
Same.
Danielle reminded me of a character in a Tim Burton film.
Watched this episode tonight and I felt so sorry for Danielle. Yes it was hard to watch. But obviously the family dynamics have played a big part in her addiction. Blame doesn’t help anybody. We‘re all trying to do our best in any way we can and with what we have, this goes for her as well for her parents which I felt could heal in this whole process as well. So glad she got treatment and got better. I root for her! I was so happy she completed treatment and was herself again.
Just watched this episode, wow what a chaotic family… I felt so so bad for the children and the husband! How sweet they are, the son at the end when he said about his moms smile I cried. Then she left them, again basically, jeez I’m speechless.. when the dad said about being an addict is “genetic”, no, this is just generation after generation of growing up in messy situations!! I really pray for those beautiful children and hope they grow up happy and with peace..
Wow – I never thought she would stay clean. Not with doing that amount of pills. But in fact, in 2016, there was a follow up done on her (you can view it on You tube) and its obvious she’s clean. She remarried and had two more kids. Hey good for her but I must say I’m shocked. As a matter of fact, does anyone know where Danielle is nowadays? That followup video is 6 years old now. Does anyone know if she is still clean and sober right now in 2022?
She is not sober in 2023
I am only in the beginning of this episode but I want to chill let dizzy know that it should be mentioned that she’s taking benzos with Percocet which we know is a deadly combination… She’s taking phenazepam which is a very strong Benzodiazepine that is banned in the United States and most of Western Europe… taking a loan it is dangerous because it has the effect of a benzo along with a muscle relaxer and taken with opioids is extremely deadly… Of course I am only talking about her taking these at the time of this episode I haven’t finished watching it I will be finishing it. For more information on this deadly benzo…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3472894/
And according to the episode where she tells you what prescriptions she’s taking ( that is where I got the information that she’s taking Phenazepam) she also says she’s taking ralivia which is another opioid like Percocet but it is the least potent opioid.
I’ve notice… so many people smoke cigarettes on this show…Not just the addict but even family members… With Danielle, it’s just Daniel and not family members…but a lot of them smoke cigarettes around the children, including Danielle, and no one ever says anything on this forum.
Maybe because it’s not that big of a deal…
Naw all smokers are degenerate monsters who don’t deserve to live /s
Well, it will kill you and on the way to doing so, will make you stinky, sick and broke. But apart from that…
OK I finished the episode now… I’m so happy for Danielle and her family at the end of the episode when Danielle is hugging Jayda with a huge beautiful smile on Daniel‘s face and her son says “It seems you got your smile back I love that smile I hope to see it till the end of time!” what a beautiful ending… And to the people who are commenting on her manipulative behavior, that was the attic talking and she didn’t leave that long and she came right back to be with her children, we don’t know the whole story so you shouldn’t make judgments… God bless to the entire family!
can we get a category for worst family, cuz these people take the fucking cake.