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S23E1 Krystal

Season 23, Episode 1

Krystal
Age: 36
Location: Big Bear Lake, California
Addiction:  Alcohol, meth, cocaine, heroin

Official Synopsis: Krystal lives out her dream of getting married and dedicating her life to two young sons, but the effects of growing up in a dysfunctional family, along with the death of her father, turns Krystal into an alcohol, heroin, meth, and fentanyl addict.

What’s Memorable:  The old boyfriend keeping her dangerously drunk but testing her for hard drugs because he wants her to be ok but also knows as soon as she actually sobers up she’ll leave him, the other boyfriend dying of a fentanyl overdose in her arms, all the gorgeous scenery and big mountain cabins, how happy I was to see she was still sober at the end. She was certainly close to an overdose, considering she had taken a break so her tolerance would’ve been much lower if there had been Fentanyl cut into it. Damn that drug is scary.  This season is gonna be hella disturbing.

Interventionist: Ken

Date Aired: October 18, 2021

Comments
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Comments

  1. Kenzie

    I’m so glad she’s been sober thus far and is working on her way back to her boys. One thing that stuck out and honestly bothered me is the fact no one had called CPS to get the boys away from the father who is also using drugs. They should not have been in his care either.

  2. Jenny

    I was distracted, but did her brother say she drank 2 HANDLES of whiskey a day?!?! I hope I heard that wrong because that’s absolutely insane.

    1. Matthew

      Yeah, he did say two… and I had the same thought. At my absolute heaviest, using no other drugs, I maybe averaged *one* of the big bottles every 24 hrs. But to drink 3.5 liters of liquor a day – to say nothing of everything she’s ingesting – is mind boggling.

      1. Jenny

        At my very worst I was a 5’7, 110 pounds eating nothing for days on end and I still couldn’t drink more than 2 fifths in a 24 hour period. That’s just madness.

  3. Billy

    wait, so she’s addicted to meth, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and she’s and alcoholic?

    1. Dizzy

      I’m actually not sure I’d say she’s addicted to fentanyl though. It sounds more like she only does it by accident when it’s mixed with her heroin and she otherwise avoids it, and in fact quit the heroin because she was worried it might have fentanyl in it.

      1. Mr B

        IKR?! I was confused by that too!

  4. Dahlia

    Dizzy I agree 1000000%. This season’s about to go OFF, I can feel it.

  5. Restless soul

    Where to watch? I had season 22 on amazon prime but not seeing this anywhere! 🙁

    1. Dizzy

      Google Play has it, you can buy the episode for $2 or the whole season for $11 right now. Or you could do a free trial of Philo. In my experience Amazon Prime is often just late with the episodes.

      1. Mr B

        This season is on Amazon prime now. A lot more than $11 though

      2. Kara Bishop

        You can watch the season on the A&E app… Just download it on your phone or smart TV!! it has commercials, but you can actually fast forward through them right before they start, not everyone knows that! Enjoy!! Love this site Dizzy!

  6. Natalie S.

    I noticed that under the listing of drugs of abuse it didn’t mention cocaine- but in the synopsis it does. I can’t comment on the episode as I haven’t seen it, but I would like to say I enjoy this website and I qualify as an Intervention super fan. Thanks Dizzy, for creating this hub for us. I have a question about Ken Sealy but not sure where to post it.
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    1. Dizzy

      I think you should post your Ken question in the FAQs comments. https://intervention-directory.com/faqs/

    2. Dizzy

      I feel like what Krystal is and isn’t addicted to is a little fuzzy. Definitely alcohol. Heroin, maybe yes, although was not using a the time of filming. Meth and cocaine, meh? Not sure. Like she uses it to be able to function while drinking but not sure it’s an addiction, per se. Fentanyl, not really.

  7. Xlio

    I’m really excited for the concept of this season. As a Californian, I can confirm I’ve heard of so many acquaintances losing their lives from unintentionally ODing on cocaine laced fentanyl. It’s in party drugs, pressed prescriptions – I hope this doesn’t come off as insensitive but with heroin use, you’re gambling everytime and it’s not exactly sustainably recreational. Lots of people leading functional lives may partake in party drugs occasionally and are now running the risk of ODing. It’s not worth it.

  8. Natalie

    To me, some of her siblings seemed off to me…like they were on something, too. They all looked worn and tired for their age, too.

    1. Gigi

      I really liked her siblings and thought they looked pretty typical…lots of time in the sun no doubt.

    2. Missy

      I thought this as well. There also seems to be plenty of adult family, a little strange that foster care would be the next step for the kids. I don’t know how the system works in CA, but that makes me think the siblings have their own circumstances that would prevent them from being granted guardianship.

      1. Elizabeth

        Child welfare could get involved and place the children with family members. However, bringing the kids into the system would mean that the family loses all control of their placement – e.g. the court would decide where the kids are placed, how long they stay in the placement, what conditions must be met for the kids to be reunified with the parent(s) and ultimately, if parental rights are terminated permanently and the kids are made available for adoption.

        One benefit to having the kids come formally into the child welfare system and having family licensed as foster parents is that they are then eligible for foster care maintenance payments. If the family members take custody but don’t become licensed foster parents, they would receive greatly reduced payments or no payment at all.

        I think the family hadn’t involved child welfare because they didn’t want to lose all control of the kids. I think they were informally keeping the kids to keep them out of “the system” but were at a point that this was no longer sustainable. The family members had no legal right to keep the kids from their dad, as they would have had if they kids were formally in foster care and placed with family members.

  9. Ronnie G

    I grew up in Lake Arrowhead, in the mountains up near Big Bear. Still haven’t watched this episode because of it being so close to home. I started watching it, but saw the intro shots and knew it was Big Bear Lake and had to turn it off. I knew the episode would trigger me to head to the liquor store and further my addiction.

    The MTNs are a tough place for an addict. It’s so beautiful and peaceful, that it makes people want to use. The lack of good jobs is tough for a future. If you’re a realtor, contractor or work at the grocery store, you’re set. Everyone else has to commute an hour or two to go down the hill and work.

    Drugs are rampant up there, and growing up my friends were dropping like flies once the Oxycodone hit the scene. Before that it was meth. We used to refer to the druggies as “mountain critters” or “MTN lifers” meaning once they hit the drugs, they would become “lifers” up there and never be able to leave the MTNs. Many people I went to high school with became “lifers” and some of them died before we could graduate college. I know more than a few people from high school whose life’s ended on Highway 18, driving off the mountainside drunk, and one guy whose brother was driving drunk and he was hanging out the passenger window when the truck rolled over.

    The crazy thing is, once I moved out of California, I realized how much potential and opportunity was afforded to us living in Southern California so close to so many big-money markets with career potential and a future.

    This woman is 2 years older than me and at the time we grew up, the MTNs didn’t offer much opportunity as far as college and stuff. Now with distance learning college classes and such, it’s different, but back then the closest community College from Big Bear was about a 2 hour drive each way. If you didn’t get into a university, you were commuting big time, or working a dead end job with no real future to see. Like I said, the MTNs bred addicts.

    Anyways, I hope to watch this episode some day, I just know the close to home-ness of it all will trigger my addiction, so I’m staying clear.

    Thanks for the site, Dizzy. I’m a long time lurker, first time commenter. Glad to see the new format, glad to see you took 2020 to work on you and Clean living. Keep it up!

    1. Koj

      Ronnie, really appreciated reading your comment. There’s no reason for you to watch this episode if it’ll be a trigger for you. Thanks for sharing your experience and going back to the MTN mentally but stay there (away), stay strong and thanks again for sharing with us.

  10. Mike

    You can watch this season on A&E online for free.
    https://play.aetv.com/shows/intervention/season-23/

  11. Kara Bishop

    Krystal… I am 48 and I was a crystal meth user until I got pregnant with my son 18 years ago and then I relapsed on opiate pills around 2012 and have been clean from everything since 2014… but I wanted to say that your story touched, touched my heart! I have two kids my son is 18 and my daughter is 15 and I’m so happy that you got clean not just for your two boys but like you said for you!!! if ever, you need anyone to talk to I live in the Sacramento area (if you still live her), I live in Rocklin, California…You can always reach out anytime [email protected] Much Love & Happiness to you… you deserve it all! ❤️

    1. Krystal

      Wow. Thank you for your comment and support. I no longer live in the area but can always use an understanding friend. I appreciate you. God Bless. If you or anyone else wants to get in touch email me. [email protected]. Facebook and insta too.

  12. Krystal

    Thank you everyone for your support. I know my story is a little hard to interpret and may be confusing. If you have any questions or just want to reach out feel free to contact me. [email protected] or on Facebook and Instagram Krystal Thomas. I’m not tech savvy but you can figure it out I’m sure. lol. Thank You Dizzy, I’m a fan.

    1. Elizabeth

      So happy to see you doing so well at the end Krystal, you’re such a kind and beautiful woman! I hope things are still going okay for you and just know a ton of strangers are out here rooting for you <3

    2. J

      Krystal, i am so so happy for you and your family! you’re an incredibly strong woman and even in the depths of addiction you still seemed like a good mom, just lost. best of luck to you and your kids!