Season 11, Episode 13
Terry
Age: 44
Location: Kingston, Pennsylvania
Addiction: Alcohol (vodka)
What’s memorable: Her chronic weight issues and her turn to alcohol instead of food (a gallon of vodka a day!), her mother’s abusive obsession with Terry’s looks. “I think appearances do make the person” Also, how her mom didn’t believe her when she told her she was sexually abused as a child. It’s really no wonder why Terry drinks this way. When her mom says “this is not the daughter I raised” I wanted to scream “YES IT IS, it’s exactly the daughter you raised!”
Official Synopsis: Once a stunning model and devoted mother, Terry binges on vodka every day to escape her mother’s taunts and her father’s neglect. She ignores her doctor’s warning that she will be dead in six months if she doesn’t stop drinking.
Original Air Date: April 2012
Interventionist: Donna
Terry, you are not alone.
My mother, did not believe anything I summoned up the courage to tell her. She still doesn’t.
I’m so happy that you went to rehab and I hope that you are still sober and working on putting your sobriety and happiness first.
Your story really helped me and I thank you for sharing it.
I’m sorry, no one no matter how alcoholic can drink up to a gallon of vodka a day. A hypothetical 150 pound woman who’s consumed a gallon of vodka over a 24 hour period would have a BAC of 2.4. That’s not .24 but 2.4. This show is rife with exaggeration for the sake of ratings.
@Someguy: I doubt it matters much, but they said she weighed 176 pounds at 5’11”. Nevertheless, your point is taken. Perhaps the “gallon” included the liquids with which she mixed her vodka (Coke, juice). We only saw her drink it straight once. So the actual consumption of vodka is probably more like 2-4 pints (1/4 to half gallon).
I totally agree with you – it is an exaggeration and not only in this episode. but they use a saving formula “up to” which I guess means that some days those addicts drink just a few shots or even nothing. but nonetheless – it is quite doubtful that even sometimes they drink 3,78 litres (is it a gallon?) of vodka a day! I’m an alcoholic myself and I’m from Russia (so pardon my english) but we here can’t drink that much ever)) Once I drank about 2 or maybe 2,5 litres of vodka during a day and ended up in a hospital. but she’s a woman and she looks, speaks and moves pretty normally – I just can’t figure out this gallon. so guess let the producers keep that fairy tales for themselves.
wtf. Who cares? You can see there is a problem, and and you start calculating?
GTFO.
I am glad she got help, and I hope she stayed sober.
I’m not saying it’s out of the question that it’s an exaggeration, but with gastric bypass patients, alcohol affects us differently. Our pouches are much smaller than a normal stomach, so the alcohol high we get is much stronger and faster, but not as long lasting. Many many people who have gastric bypass have transfer addictions with alcohol because the buzz is so much more intense and wears off so quickly.
It could be diluted vodka, which is pretty typical for alcoholics due to its lower price, larger quantities, and availability in grocery and convenience stores. Diluted vodka runs around a 21% alcohol content versus standard vodka at 40%. So, I’d say it’s not an exaggeration.
lol clearly you have never been close to a severe alcoholic. i could drink 4 litres of wine in 24 hours no problem when i was a drunk.
She was a very tall woman for one. And secondly you’d be surprised at the tolerance people can build up an the ant of alcohol they can consume. I believe it without a doubt.
I had a friend at 5 foot 2 that could consume up to 8 bottles of wine in 24 hours. She drank 2/3 a day, then 6-8 a day all weekend. Anything’s possible.
I too am 5 foot 11 and used to drink everyone under the table. Thankfully I stopped binging many years ago. My health is my priority and has been for over ten years.
I’m 5’7″… and I can assure you that drinking that much can be accomplished. Maybe not all day every day – but it can happen. My own mother, who is 5′ 2″ can easily consumer bottles of whiskey if given the opportunity. Godspeed Terry
I used to do 3/4 shots of Yager and 3/4 beers..now, I can have a glass of wine and be wasted! I’m 5’1 and 120 pounds. You guys are professionals! Lol.
Terrie,
I’d like to speak with you. You can reach out to me on Facebook andrew constantinidis. I hope you do decide to reach out look me up if you ever read these comments. Hope you are doing well. Im actually watching your episode right now. Hope to hear from you.
I does anyone know if she’s still in recovery?
It is possible. I am a 5’7″ female, 135. I could drink that much. My BAC was around a .45 one time I went to hospital for detox. I was walking and talking normally. Tolerance is both an incredible and horrible thing.
It’s possible. I am 5’8 and was 115 and could drink almost a gallon of vodka a day. I was a full blown alcoholic, but held a job and seemed normal until I went to rehab 5 years ago. I drank 3 vodka tonics (at the airport) and 5 glasses of wine on the plane and about 2.5 hours after they did my intake for rehab and I blew a 0.00% My body could metabolize alcohol very quickly at that point. I am not saying it is normal but addicts bodies can take a lot. Believe or not for drinking like that for about 7 years I had no lasting health problems. God and recovery are good.
Yes to all the smart comments above. Every body is so completely different from the next, so it’s naive to use a one-all formula to compare. Body composition plays a HUGE role in metabolizing drugs.
Who cares if it’s a half-gallon or what?! You people, Yuck
I was so affected by your story, Terry. Your rightfully-deserved apology from your mother — she tried so hard. And bless Pam for putting aside embarrassment — a heartfelt subject – to achieve this healing for all of you.
You are so very brave.
Did anyone else cringe like hell when the first words out of the rehab director’s mouth were regarding how she “couldn’t believe Terry used to be a model”, and now she looks good again. I yelled out loud, for Christ’s sake, I thought the whole point was to get this woman to start loving herself aside from any physical characteristics. Ugh. I am rooting for Terry, and I hope she is well.
Yes that was a disgusting comment to make. Awful person. I mean it’s not like the director was a super model herself.
M, your comment cracked me up! So true and Mira, you couldn’t have said it any better.
Since I’ve worked in and around show business all my life, it seems it should almost be a “sub-category” of addiction: Those who went through most of their lives with a “pass” because they were good-looking/beautiful–and fell into addiction to compensate for the inevitable “march of time” and fading of their beauty. I’ve known several former “beauties” who ‘ve fallen into this trap and it’s a sad thing to face. Some slip into the plastic surgery addiction, desperately trying to cling to the past, when their most prominent feature was their looks. Anyone who’s resented how “lucky” the good-looking are should temper that resentment with the knowledge that–in nearly all cases (to quote Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE–“Physical beauty is passing. A transitory possession.” I guess I’ve seen nearly every INTERVENTION episode, to date, and don’t know if this topic has ever been addressed: “Loss of beauty & compensatory addiction.” My heart went out to Terry and I hope she’s found some peace.
I don’t think it was the loss of beauty…it was her mother’s emphasis on looks her whole life. Feeling reduced to an image and that everything is secondary to maintaining that image, ironically, can drive someone to overeat and balloon up. Its like a trigger switch.
yes what a stupid thing to say!
I was so happy that Terry agreed to treatment and to actually work at her program. She looks amazing and the key to that is her sobriety and newly-discovered happiness. It was just so good to see her smile. I agreed with her counselor about setting boundaries, because her mother was so toxic to her. You can’t blame a kid for being molested or try to deny it when they report that they have been. I was molested when I was ten as well. It persisted for a few years into my teens, and while my family didn’t deny it happened, they didn’t take action against him either. My sister blamed me and my mother went along with her. Now, instead of bickering about how much alcohol as woman can drink, does anyone have any updates on Terry’s life since treatment and sober living community?
Does anyone know how Terry is doing? I hope is is still well.
Dizzy, just an idea…but maybe there could be a category for addicts who’ve had bariatric surgery and become alcoholics. There are so many cases like these (just in the same season Julie) where they turn to alcohol all around six months to a year of the surgery. When I researched this there are a few theories…one being that they change from one addiction of food to another addiction of alcohol, and another one having to do with the alcohol getting into the blood stream faster because of the smaller stomach size. It’s probably a combination of the chill theories. I wonder how many episodes there are on Intervention that have to do with geriatric surgery and alcohol or other substances.
Terry your mom is morbidly obese. She is projecting her own fear of inadequacy onto you.
There is an understanding now as to the genetic causes of addiction. It is all about unrelenting anxiety and the trauma that elevates baseline levels of anxiety.
I hope you have been living a happy sober life.