Season 16, Episode 7
Diana
Age: 29
Location: Beuna Park, California
Addiction: Alcohol
What’s Memorable: Ken knocked this one out of the park. He developed a strategy for getting her to say yes based on what he knew about the family dynamics, and it worked. He knew exactly what she needed to hear. Well done Ken.
Official Synopsis: In three years, Diana’s alcoholism has gotten so bad that it has led her to being diagnosed with Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, an alcohol-related brain disorder, which recently landed her in the hospital with temporary paralysis and a feeding tube… which she poured vodka into! Diana’s addiction has destroyed her career, her relationships, and now her health. Her parents know that if she doesn’t get help now, she won’t live to celebrate her 30th birthday. Ken Seeley is Diana’s Interventionist.
Date Aired: Jan 2017
Interventionist: Ken
Looking forward to seeing tonight’s episode. Sounds pretty serious. If anyone can help its Ken and the lovely Candy
Wow. I am so happy for Diana that she got treatment for herself and that she is still winning the battle with her addiction. Growing up in suburban Orange County I can relate to the feelings of having to be perfect and the anxiety and depression that accompany keeping up such an exhausting facade that everything is wonderful, but I can’t imagine having parents with such a stranglehold. At first I thought it was drunken exaggeration, but her parents were pretty much controlling her to death. Some might fault Ken for his style with this intervention but you can’t argue with the results- it makes me sad that her parents can’t put having a healthy relationship with their daughter in recovery over their pride and having to be “right”. Did anyone else notice or feel sad that Diana didn’t have more people involved in her life and her intervention? It just seemed like her parents were so afraid of people knowing or seeing her that they kept her tucked away. Anyway, I am happy for Diana- and hope her the best in her future.
I think Ken did great!!!! it got her into treatment… Too bad it didn’t get her parents into treatment, but I wasn’t expecting that, no fault to Ken!!!
Ken was wonderful as always. Good episode. Hope she stays clean
I am deleting this comment because enough people had a problem with it still being up. For the record I let it be published because I knew the creep was gonna get shit for it and I thought that would be more effective than not posting it all, but I will listen to my commenters and remove. ‘Tis the will of the people. – Dizzy
This is the creepiest comment I’ve ever read on here.
Agreed, Mike! Super creepy.
Be very careful. He’s apparently able to control the power of the holy spirit, and all.
100% agreed. I wish Dizzy would have a report feature; this comment is incredibly sinister.
lmao what the fuck
1000% agreed….”take her to the mountains to breathe the fresh air while shes tied to a tree naked” pretty sure thats wat he meant to write ????
Wow this was a powerful one. I could relate to her being smothered and rebelling. Diana is so beautiful inside and out. Wishing her all the best. And I agree, this might be Ken’s best.
Those parents were beyond controlling. Just that scene of them coming into Diana’s home with food and having done her laundry was crazy. The woman is nearly 30. I found myself wishing that Diana had done something like gone to college in NY or done something to separate herself geographically from her parents; I think it could have helped her enormously.
Yep, except when your parents have a hold on you like that they probably would find some way to keep her home.
??? her parents brought her food, laundry, and her life saving meds, etc, bc she can’t and won’t take care of herself. this is par for the course for most enabling, codependent parents/family/friends. they aren’t trying to find excuses to keep her home, they WANT her to go get treatment.
Honestly, this was one of Ken’s best interventions yet. He didn’t leave a single stone unturned…I saw him try to give Diana the empowerment she needed, and he handled the parents flawlessly. I was so happy to see him visit her at treatment during the follow-up. Ken’s awesome 🙂
Ken really is awesome. So odd to me these girls that have everything going for them and then alcohol destroys it all.
Looks are deceiving.
This is yet another example of parents not believing their child when it comes to molestation. In so many cases, it’s so obvious that the need to either protect the accused or to shift blame from themselves is more powerful than the need for them to help the victim.
I think it happens enough that Dizzy might consider adding it as an addiction trigger. I mean seriously, shouldn’t the benefit of the doubt go to your child and not the abuser? In Diana’s situation, it seems to me that there were some pretty clear indications that her parents knew something was wrong but thought they could fix it. I mean seriously, the controlling and showering of superficial love seems pretty telling.
This was a very important intervention. I live in Tucson, and while I doubt I will ever run into Diana, I hope she finds peace here. It’s a pretty laid back city and she could make a life here.
“Childhood sexual abuse” is listed as a trigger. There are plenty of addicts out there who were molested as children. Some of the parents believe them, some don’t, and some never know about the molestation until many years later. It’s the actual molestation that is the traumatic event, not how the parents react to it.
Ken really nailed this one. He called out Diana’s parents on their self-serving behaviour and unwillingness to get help. Diana may be one addict who will have to cut ties with her parents in order to remain in recovery.
If you run into her at El Guero Canelo say hi for me…
I was specifically referring to the times when parents/families don’t believe them. While I can’t remember the specific names, there have been many instances of childhood sexual abuse where the family had no doubt it had happened and didn’t blame the victim. But is seems to me there a significant number of times when the family doesn’t believe them or even blames them for it (Gina comes to mind).
I also remember one guy who witnessed his father cheating and the whole family called him a liar.
That’s what I was thinking about. The psychological impact of being told that something that happened to you either didn’t or was your fault is serious.
I remember the same episode regarding the guy who discovered his dad cheating. My heart broke for him – who would make up something like that?
I feel for those who were in the situations listed above, and it’s so sad when they aren’t believed. For every one accusation that’s false, I’m sure there are at least five or ten that are accurate. What a frustrating thing to deal with.
As a rape and molestation victim I will tell you you are wrong. The way your family handles it (or doesn’t handle it) can be almost if not as traumatic as the incident itself. My family blamed me (similar to Megan, Gina, and others) and it made things so much worse.
I disagree. If you finally screw up the courage to tell your parents and then they don’t believe you, that in itself is very harmful.
am I the only one that feels something amiss happened between Diana and her stepbrother? That could be why her parents were so unwilling to believe that she was molested. I hope that treatment helps this family get to a place where they can love each other in a healthy way.
I also thought this might have been the case. If he needed to be removed from the home and essentially out of their lives completely there must have been more than sibling bullying happening.
I think there is something to that, because Diana’s mother said something along the lines of “how could he do it, he wasn’t even here.” That makes me think it was the step-brother, with them not realizing it happened before he left. Regardless of who it might of been, I also agree that the notbelieving can be just as traumatic as the assault itself. I am a sexual assault victims advocate and one of our biggest pushes is to “start by believing”- telling someone anything less than I believe you is unacceptable.
You are so right. I really pray that her parents come to the realization that she was courageous enough to take the help, now it is their turn.
I think this is it. Notice how the father mentioned her bed-wetting (right around the time he left the house, no less), then immediately changed the topic?
This episode was like looking into a mirror. Horrific Godspeed to this lady!
Yes I thought that right away!
amen Ally it is a huge deal when families deny it! It can be MORE harmful than the abuse sometimes especially when the family sticks by the abuser by either denying it or sweeping under the rug.
Diana,
I am in tears watching your episode. I am so PROUD of you for getting the help that you needed. I pray that you continue to move in the right direction and fall back on the love and support that you have received from both Ken and the Cottonwood staff and counselors. I think this episode hit me so hard because it is ten years ago that we had to bury my aunt from alcoholism. She was such a beautiful person inside and out. I saw so much of her in you. She also had been to Cottonwood but unfortunately did not have the success you did. I will pray for you every day and truly hope that you stay on the road to success. I also pray that your parents will realize that they have a problem that needs to be addressed as well. You had such courage to take that step towards healing, I feel they owe it to you to do the same. You are such a BEAUTIFUL person and I believe you will have such a BRIGHT, HAPPY and FULFILLING future ahead of you. Stay strong. I look forward to seeing your update in a future episode!!!
You know, I agree with everyone that Ken did a great job in terms of working with Diana and getting her to treatment but in terms of the parents, I did kind of miss Seth. To me, he’s always the one who knows how to speak truth to power when it comes to disbelieving parents who don’t take any responsibility.
I whole-heartedly agree!
Amen to missing Seth! He was awesome on Gina and Megan’s episodes.
I cant help but wonder if the issue of her brother being abandoned by her father and mother, and her parents showering her with everything they didn’t give him, would result in some very deep underlying conflicts, even is she doesn’t realize it. I didn’t see this addressed at all, how can any parent abandon a child they already have and in essence, just replace him with their daughter?? Can you imagine the pain and abandonment her brother must have felt? Would completely explain his behavior, and then as even more punishment, the parents get rid of him. Disgusting. I know I would have a sense of guilt if I was dealing with this knowledge, thank God I would never be such a bad parent.
What? If the brother is the one who molested her (which we don’t even know one way or the other), nothing would explain or excuse it.
I also got the feeling that he was the one that abused her, and it would explain the parents’ (especially the father’s) refusal to believe the claim.
I agree, as it is cruel!
Whether or not her brother molested her she could still have shame over the way her parents treated him as well as the molestation. I know my brother molested my little brother and my mother showers him with affection and is cruel to my little brother who was victimized. She constantly plays the blame game and one brother (molester) can do know wrong the other brother (victim) can do no right. She is a narcissist and when dealing with narcissism logic is thrown out the window and replaced with drama. My dad falls for her bs all the time but has gotten a little bit better about seeing through the lies and manipulation but enables her behavior to continue. She rules the roost. She places her six children on a totem pole instead of loving them equally. I almost wonder if Diana’s parents showed traits of narcissism by the extreme favoriting and good child vs. bad child role. When I went to my parents about the molestation nothing was done. They took my brother to Olive Garden to “have a chat” and the molesting continued. The coveted golden child could’ve never done such a horrible thing. I was put in trouble for being a bad babysitter and my little bro never got counseling, let alone recognition that he was abused. It’s shocking what will slide under the rug to protect the family name.
Hi Nicole,
I hope you cut ties with your parents and your brother. It’s unhealthy for you mentally to be in contact with them.
Hi Alana –
Unfortunately I live with all of them right now. My two brothers (molester and victim) and my parents. My other 3 siblings went to college and were supported enough to have the confidence to get away. I’m currently on disability so I don’t know how to escape due to financial reasons. I really am in a rock and a hard place right now and no one really seems to get that.
As soon as I heard the part about her brother having bullied and berated her, I immediately figured the parents (particularly the dad) must be treating them differently…probably fawning over everything she did, and not so much with the son. If that WAS the case, there’s no wonder he’s jealous!! (My own dad has refused to compliment my brother on ANYTHING, while showing pride in what I do. It has caused jealousy on my brother’s part and has cut him off at the knees as far as self-confidence…not having Dad’s approval! I’ve repeatedly asked my dad to say SOMETHING, ANYTHING complimentary to my brother, show him he’s interested in his life…he’s a good cook, is highly intelligent, is a very talented artist, is generous with people. My dad’s response: “I don’t see it.” It’s as though he’s in competition with my brother, and doesn’t want to be outshined. So, when the parents sent her brother back to his mother, instead of recognizing what they were doing to the boy, it disgusted me!! What jerks!!
Hey! Wondering about a few of the episodes that haven’t made it onto this site (Todd as an example!!
Some of the “new” episodes are actually reruns of Intervention Canada which are not displayed on covered on this site.
There’s lots of Canadian episodes on this site
I can’t believe I’m the only to say this. Her parents had some issues, and the molestation wasn’t handled right. But her parents weren’t the worst most controlling by people. They did love her and gave her their best, many kids are smothered and over protected. For God sakes she was killing herself, vitamin deficient, brain disorder and still not eating. If that was your kid wouldn’t you bring her food? How is that controlling. They felt they needed to take care of her because she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself! Out of love. She needs to take some of the blame. Her parents did dote on her, give her every opportunity to succeed. And she wounded up 30 and not able to take care of herself. There’s more than one to blame. It’s just over dramatic. Oh I’m sorry your parents were middle class and over protective. And sent you to college all paid for and trips abroad to italy. Melodrama. It’s sad that the addicts that have never had the chance to be loved by their family. Have been raped by their family members. Tossed out like trash. Those addicts need someone to say I love you and offer that plane trip. And they would most likely be grateful and take the chance for rehab. But why would any tv channel produce and air that? As a recovered addict, I just don’t have much sympathy with the story. Sorry for the rant. I am glad to see another success story! Everyone deserves a second chance. But give her parents a break.
As a recovering addict, you should know that not everyone’s experiences are the same and untreated PTSD is serious. You saw a glimpse into a small period of her life with narration from her alcohol-addled brain and her parents. You have no idea what her demons are. You don’t know what mental illness she may have left untreated. There have been plenty of homeless addicts on this show who were offered treatment. The point is that this can happen anywhere.
It’s not so easy to just get up and keep on going with your life when you’ve been wronged by someone. It eats at you and effects everything you do.
I guess it’s upsetting to me to see two things: (1) The mother’s histrionics regarding her daughter and the history of alcoholics in her family, and (2) the fact that NEITHER parent went to the recovery workshops for family members. Why not go, Mom and Dad? Diana was short-changed in that regard, and I hope she is able to love her parents and keep her distance.
i completely agree. i don’t understand why everyone thinks her parents were so controlling? they were definitely overprotective of her, like many parents, but that’s about it. the only examples i heard her give of her parents being controlling was during her childhood. for example, they sent her to a private all-girls christian school. they were her parents and it’s their job to do what they think is best for her. THAT’S WHAT PARENTS DO!! they couldn’t be too controlling, they sent her to italy with just her friends! they sent her away to college instead of keeping her nearby. also, how was buying her food and life saving medications, doing her laundry, and paying her rent, etc, controlling her?? honestly if they wanted to control her, they could have had her live WITH them. they’re the ones paying her rent. they only did all that bc she was UNABLE to do it for herself. they did what most enabling, codependent family and friends do to try and “save” their loved one and keep them alive, which you pretty much see in almost every intervention episode. what i saw were two parents who were upset and scared over their daughter’s severe addiction as she was literally putting her life in jeopardy. were we all watching the same show?? sure, they weren’t perfect. they didn’t believe her molestation claim, which was messed up. but all families have their specific issues. they definitely should have gotten help for those like they said they would. but in the end, they just wanted her to get better and live a healthy, happy life.
I noticed a common pattern with intervention and that’s that most of the time the person addicted actually had a loving and supportive family that ENABLES their addiction in one way or another and it really just makes the situation worst. In Diane’s case her parents were doing a lot for her because she wasn’t willing to do it herself. She had a job, she could have moved out and far away from them and just went on about her life. She had those opportunities but she just kept blaming her parents. Even on her facebook all this time later while she’s partying in Las Vegas she’s still blaming her parents. Zero liability for herself and that her problems she keeps running into are a result of her own actions. Your parents aren’t responsible for what you do when your like way over the age of 30. What bothered me about this episode is that there was never any root reason given for why she started drinking so heavily other than she wanted to rebel against her parents. I think she’s just a college party girl that became an alcoholic and never grew out the phase. Now she’s 30 something still trying to live the college party girl life. Her facebook speaks volumes. She won’t ever get better until she stops blaming her parents for everything that goes wrong in her life and start blaming herself and the decisions she’s made in life. Only then will she finally put the “booze” down and start making changes. Hopefully it won’t be when it’s too late for her.
So I feel like the issue is they were basically running(controlling,whatever you wanna call it) her life but then you also hear her say they hadn’t even hugged her in 10 years til the intervention. I can’t imagine having your parents so completely involved in your life like that but then also not showing you any love or affection-kind of like keeping you a little kid but then not giving you what a child really craves.
We’re all different. What could traumatise the one, is a day in the life for the other.. it is more than likely the culmination of events, circumstances and genes that made Diana take the road she did. Another may have given herself/himself over to food.
The other problem that seems to be ignored, is the damage that was caused to her half-brother. it seems he is blamed for the start of all of the problems in the family. He was only a child but no one seems to care how the new dynamics with a new very selfish stepmother and little sister who got all of the attention had deprived him of happiness too.
Even his own father blamed him openly on international TV (I am in South Africa) for the problems he caused in the family, and seemed that he was right to send him away. What about his trauma?
So what is the price for harming the other child (brother), it seems Diana’s well-being/life. They need to fix up and apologise to the brother,.. but might be too late.
Diana, you would have to move away as far as you can from your parents..possibly for good. They will poison you, interfere at your workplace, relationships etc.. Move closer to your brother..and let him talk to you about his pain.. once you truly understand it.. you will hopefully be able to free yourself of the curse on you, which may haunt you to the end.
Keep in mind that your mother too is in dire need of help, but she is old enough to realise it herself. She may have to be molested. Your father seems to make out as if he is the man, but in my eyes, he is the biggest coward. He needs to fix up his relationship with his son, apologise profusely and possibly the son’s mother too.
I wish you good luck Diana, you need a change of scenery, a good man and some children as they will keep your mind occupied and away from all of your daunting thoughts.
I talk of experience. My best friend passed away on the 11th of September 2017, where the alcohol and lifestyle she used to escape her same problems as your, finally killed her. (Check at 1:48 where her mother sits behind her, and watch her every move like an eagle).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8sFSvK3nWpWMi1Dald6dEM1dUU/view?usp=sharing
You think that but you have no idea what it’s like dealing with an alcholic. Diana’s heavy drinking which led to a disorder of her brain is WHY. The leash was put on her parents more then you know. I have dealt with alcholics and believe me controlling them is ALOT easier then taking them to the ER to get staples in there brain from falling on there face or listening to there verbal abuse. I know Diana is an addict and I feel bad for her but she should be thankful to have mom and dad aside from the fact that yes, they may need to work on things. I almost think alcohol is the worst of them all cuz it’s the one drug that makes everyone else the bad guy
Diana I have seen your episode three times and everytime it touches my heart I’m so so proud of you and I know it’s hard with your parents not agreeing to what they agreed to but at the end it’s all good there’s only one God and he will make things better for you and your family God bless you
Also not expressed above in my comment, is that I strongly sympathize with Diana to. I know what it’s like to have fractured relationships with parents. I know she wanted freedom and ether she was to smothered but I think alcoholism ran in the family as her mom said…and that’s the real chain there. Peace to that family though. Diana your pretty..don’t waste your life!
If you are out there Diana … could you please give us an update .
Diana,
I hope you heal and prosper. I just watched your episode and your story broke my heart. You can do this!
Thank you all for your support, I do not communicate with my parents and have limited contact with my brother although we are on good terms (my brother). My brother is not the one who molested me, it was a neighbor whos sister use to babysit me. Although my brother and I have disagreements, we both believe that my parents are delusional and refuse the help I sought (they walked out on me during family week and made not only my fellow recovery friends but their family and the wonderful staff in tears…literally, the first time in 5 years at the center) I have found monumental support from extended family and friends, more than they ( my parents) can count. By the way, many things were edited but the basis of the story is true. I appreciate the support and continue to take one day at a time with, faith, hope and love!!!!
It’s great to hear from you Diana! Congrats on your continued sobriety and never stop being amazing. I’m sorry to hear about your parents, but sometimes you have to break away from negative influences, no matter who they may be to you. Chosen family is something I’ve always thought of as very special, since they’re people you sought out.
I don’t watch “Intervention” normally but I came across your episode and hit me hard. I saw a beautiful person that was deeply hurting inside and trying to mute the pain out with alcohol. Then watching how your parents clipped your wings and kept you in a cage beside them where they could watch you. There was such a sad loneliness in your despair. When you said the “Vodka tasted like nothing just like the way you feel” and then the phone call with your EX where he was so cold towards you and what you were going through. Watching all that really hurt. It seemed like you were a woman between a rock and a hard place with only the alcohol to run to because it gave you an escape from having to deal with where you were. I was glad to see how it turned out where they sent you away to that beautiful place to turn your life around. I don’t know you and I’m just one of the thousands that watched the episode but I feel that you owe it to yourself to find your peace and a better alcohol free life where you can be happy and learn who Diana is and forgive yourself for the years you lost to the “booze”. It was wrong what happened to you as a child and it was wrong for your parents to go about it the way they did but you can make it right by finding some happiness in this world and clinging on to it. Don’t ever surrender your life to drinking again your a beautiful person and you’re much more valuable than “nothing”. If you were “nothing” you would never be able to be in the hearts of so many people that just had a glimpse of your story. Stay Strong Diana and don’t ever give up on finding love and happiness even when the sun isn’t shining on you.
Diana first of all think I love you lol really I am a recovered alcoholic for many many years and dealt with a narcissist Mother who tried to control EVERYTHING.Just abusive all around. Faith and self control keeps me going. God bless you
Diana, I just watched your episode and came here to see if there was an update…so happy to see you posted this just a couple of weeks ago! You are absolutely gorgeous, inside and out, and I just have this good feeling that you’re going to have a beautiful life with that fairy tale ending! Keep on rocking it, girl! You got this! Much love from Oregon, sista’.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6020848
It does not appear to me that she is still sober.
How did you get that from her FB page? There is one photo on it. That is all. I don’t understand why people make these allegations with literally no proof???
Her facebook was/is stagnant it’s a mix of old photo’s and a couple of recent ones. That was an old photo.
She’s a Trump fan. Yuck.
I’ve found many recovering addicts are sadly. I guess they feel “reborn” or whatever.
It’s sad that she is a recovering addict that supports Trump? I don’t understand your logic or why it even matters.
She definitely has brain damage from the alcohol abuse. That’s the only explanation for supporting that idiot.
It doesn’t matter who she supports, Ami. What matters is how Diana is doing (looks great on her most recent FB photo) Sad and pathetic that she is being judged by her political beliefs, (which, by the way I do NOT share) rather than her health.
Exactly what I thought when I looked at her Facebook page. There is a lot of ignorant stuff on it. Not impressed.
She doesn’t seem sober from the fb posts in the last year. I hope this is a blip and Diana gets herself back to a safe place and healthy place with healthy, encouraging people.
Seems like she’s still out there living that life. Some habits are hard to break but even harder when you’re still hanging around people doing worse. She still seems to want a to be a party girl.
I agree she doesn’t appear sober and has been in a lot of situations the last few months. She was homeless for a few days in Las Vegas and talked pretty negatively of her parents.
I highly doubt that is a true Facebook account. It’s a fraudulent account. Trust me am a fb pro.
Must not be much of a Pro. That is her actual facebook. Her friends are some of the same ones you saw on the show.
Does anyone have an update on Diana. We know that she’s responded before but I just want to make sure that she is good and just enjoying life especially since her parents are pretty much one of the main contributors to her addictions and negative BS.
Why are people saying she has responded here in the past? I am not seeing any posts from her ever.
At the end of her episode she looked a lot better, but dear lord, her liver is distended. She had better be clinging to her sobriety.
Idk if she’s sober, but according to her Facebook she is an anti-masker … hate to see it
Doesn’t seem like she matured very much from her experiences. Her facebook still portrays that of someone in their early 20’s still trying to drink and party which is kind of sad at the age that she is. Doesn’t seem like she ever gave up drinking and just fell in and out of problems after leaving her parents. It’s odd how she still blames her parents but hasn’t taken responsibility for her own life at age 30 something. She seemed like a complete drunken mess during her episode but also like someone who wasn’t completely lost and could turn around but that didn’t happen. So…
You know it’s really annoying that people have to bring her political beliefs into this. So what if she’s a trump supporter. I may not be a Trump supporter myself but I’m certainly not going to judge her based off of her OWN political beliefs because that’s just dumb and unfair. It’s also funny how some people seem to change their support or ideas about her because she is a trump supporter. Like do you only support the addicts who think the same way as you do and the rest don’t matter? Honestly if y’all are really gonna judge based off of her political beliefs, that just shows how immature you really are and honestly your sad. Also Diana if your reading this I hope your doing well and I wish you all the luck .❤️
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH CORINA. I 100000% agree. It’s disgusting to see people recognize her parents’ control over her was a huge addiction trigger, and then turn around on their support for her and her sobriety when they find out they can’t control her political opinions. Healthy people secure in their own beliefs do not feel this need, this archaic belief that “well the more people agree with me, the more I am correct”. If you feel the need to blame, shame, and wish ill upon people who disagree with you politically, you need to reevaluate your own positions. Or just go back to Reddit. Actually yeah, just go back to Reddit full-stop. There, you can collect upvotes and popularity.
Hey Diana!
I’m not sure if you read these comments but I’m a new fan of this show and just watched your episode. I’m 35 I’m guessing we are around the same age. I struggle with alcohol too and my Mother was very controlling as well, she controlled everything and my Dad always backed her up.
I remember you singing in the episode “Day drunk into the night” it’s all about the Tove Lo!! Lol I love her too.
I hope you’re doing well and just wanted to send ya some love from Canada. It was brave of you to put yourself out there and you made feel less alone. Xo
Britt
P.s you’re a beautiful person! Outside (obviously you’re gorgeous) but also on the inside. Your friend Christie was cool too, I wish I had a Christie that cared about me that much
This episode has always resonated with me perhaps the most out of any other intervention episode. I see a lot of parallels from what I went through similar to what Diana went through. Although she had it much worse than me, I can still relate. I came from controlling and very Christian family – however, I wasn’t the only child, so I never got the level of attention and control that Diana did. I was more lost in the mix and dealing with things on my own. I was molested as a child by a family member when I was a preteen several times. Because of how we were raised, I never was able to tell my parents about it. I finally ended up telling my mom and my sister about it when I was 19, and neither of them believed me. When I was old enough to drink, I just absolutely loved it – just such a blissful release and it finally made me feel so good about myself and not anxious or depressed (so I thought at the time). A lot of my behaviors were similar to Diana that we saw in this episode – listening to music drinking alone in your room, miserable – walking even though you’re hardly able to walk and stumbling the streets. Just terrible. I never had the health issues that Diana had, but I still definitely abused alcohol. I ended up trying to commit suicide when I was in my early twenties when I was very drunk. My parents ended up kicking me out of the house. I’ve still dealt with problems with alcohol, mostly binge drinking (but still a problem) since then. Whenever I rewatch this episode, it again resonates with me so much and inspires me to continue to get better and do better.
Sorry for sharing my story, but if anyone out there is struggling I hope things get better soon. Life can be so hard, but you can get through this!! Hang in there <3
I see current comments on Diana’s political beliefs and while i don’t really want to stir the pot since it’s been like 6 years now, I have noticed a lot of addicts or former addicts partake in anti-masking and anti-vaccine rhetoric. You have Diana, you have Aaron Carter, that one dude on here who’s son ended up shooting up people on the west coast, etc. But overall I think the root of it is insecurity and a feeling that they lack control over their body and life, which sadly overshadows the other parts of potentially protecting others. And to some extent, I get it. You turn to cope with your problems with drugs you put inside you. It disappoints me a bit being where i am politically, there’s a level of grace we should still give her.
I think narcissism plays a role too, as many addicts medicate due to their ego, and it manifest itself politically. Notice also how many become extremely religious as well. I gotta say as someone who’s suffered from mental illness my whole life it’s been one of the strongest motivating factors to never touch hard drugs.
I am a 49-year-old mother… I am also a recovering addict… I have a 15-year-old daughter who started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana when she was only 14, but with the boundaries I gave her and with the independence of being a teenager, she decided on her own to change her life around and wants to be a drug and alcohol counselor! I could have control of her into making a decision. She quit drugs and alcohol coma, but probably would have lead to even more drug and alcohol use. I have seen so many people who are smothered by their parents and not giving any independence, and it usually leads to alcoholism and drug addiction, when they finally leave home in their college years. It’s a fine line between being controlling and letting your kids have too much freedom… but you need to give your teens freedom with boundaries and with the tools that you’ve given them to make educated and smart choices!! it’s hard being a parent! It’s hard being a teen!!
But I do want to say we do not know the whole story… Her parents may have been controlling, but they may have also been trying to help their daughter who has an addict and has a serious fatal medical issue. We really can’t blame anyone here… We just don’t know enough of the story! I just wish her parents would have gotten the help that was offered by intervention…that I don’t understand!
Here is her LinkedIn profile. It seems like she’s doing well.https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-herrick-16029623?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app