These numbers were on the title card at the very end of July 13th 2013 episode (when the show was temporarily cancelled)
243 addicts were filmed.
238 went to treatment.
156 are sober today.
That means 64% of addicts on the show were sober as of July 2013.
Delving deeper:
26 addicts (that we know of) have died since their intervention, as of October 2017.
25 of those 26 addicts went to treatment (Sean did not).
The 5 addicts who did not go to treatment: Alissa, Marquel, Larry, Adam, Sean.
For more discussion about this topic, read this post.
Note: None of the above includes subjects of Intervention Canada.
I thought I read that Marquel the exercise addict alcoholic got arrested for dwi and finally went to treatment possibly to avoid jail.
I think the point is that he didnt go to the treatment that the program offered.
i would be SHOCKED if over 60 percent of people who went to treatment were still sober. What do they do – fill out a questionnaire? And does that mean without a slip, or have some relapsed and are now sober for a month
exactly…there is NO WAY that 60 percent of those people are still sober..and so true about a slip (which isn’t horrible, but which begins the sobriety clock all over again)
Rehabs have about a 5 percent rate of success in terms of ppl going and not relapsing..I’ve been to two..i’ve been sober 9 years now, thankfully.. It’s taken me 30 years..
That thought process is what makes too many people give up. This “rule” of restarting this neon bright non-existent clock. While struggling with my own addiction, I made the decision (on my own – which I constantly hear is supposedly never done) to get help because I was tired of hating myself and I was tired of knowing everyone hates who I had become. So many people who slip become to embarrassed by admitting one night, week, month pulled them back in and they’re discouraged by this “go directly to jail…don’t pass go, don’t collect $200″ imaginary clock that pops up – so they stay and wallow in this misery because they don’t want someone taking their time from them. What’s the point? We lose too many people by forcing them to reset.
If you’re hired to do a job, and you are the best at it and everyone knows it….and one day you make an error that can be corrected but your boss comes in and says,”Nope…we’re taking your office, your title, your bonus and we’re going to force you to announce what a total f*ck up you are.” Is that fair? We need to celebrate even the smallest victories and stop chasing each other around with these rules that were made by people who decided to take that route. There are MANY different ways to recover and as addicts, it’s up to us to say,”we’re just relieved to see your safe and here. We saved your seat.” This isn’t a game of numbers. Whatever keeps someone sober is what we need
To open our minds and hearts to. I’m not interested in stripping someone of 20 years because they drank a beer – as long as they came back. We lose too many great people because they are afraid that everything they’ve worked for is
going to be tossed aside.
If you’re a heroin addict who uses 10 bundles a day and
You’ve gone down steadily and use two bundles –
YOU ARE KICKING ASS!! KEEP UP THE GOOD
WORK BECAUSE YOU ARE ALMOST FREE!!!
I promise, we’d save a lot more lives if we reminded ourselves that not everyone is the same –
WHATEVER WORKS UNTIL YOU’RE FREE!! AND
WE’RE GONNA SEE THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!! KEEP IT UP!!! Don’t concern yourself with this clock that’s reset – only one clock matters in this life – it’s starts the day we take that first breath of air and it ends the day that last breath leaves us. Let’s find a way to save MORE
LIVES and do away with the rules that keep people locked in.
I love this!!! Thank you very much for so eloquently stating that a victory is a victory, and no matter how many a person ends up having before they’re finally “there” each and every one deserves to be celebrated.
I couldn’t agree more with you on this, in fact I might go a little further. I myself have had my issues with addiction, having tried many different ways to get sober and found MY way to be the most successful. For me I stand for which ever way gets people headed in the right direction and where they need/want to be. I can’t stand all these labels/rules/steps/ect…. who cares how someone gets sober so long as they do. Over the years I’ve noticed that a lot of that stuff just becomes a pissing contest surrounded by judgment and hypocrisy. The ones who are supposed to be the most understanding and empathetic end up being the most judgmental and sometimes burdening to ones sobriety.
Lastly, and I’m sure I’ll hear some backlash on this, but I feel that branding yourself an addict the rest of your life does far more damage than good. When one is sober they’re no longer an addict, period. Constantly reminding yourself of that doesn’t do any good and only labels and cast you in a poor light. How can you move on with your life if you’re allows reminded of your past and more or less anchored with this idea that you’re always an addict. I personally believe it’s best to fully separate yourself from that life once you’ve built a solid foundation. That’s my 2 cents.
This was awesome. Thank you. I was addicted from age 15 til 27 on pain pills. My habit was up to 15 perk 30s a day to not be sick. No I couldn’t do it on my own but I got sent to prison for 2 years and decided to do the drug addiction/betterment program. I was clean up until 4 months before my 35 birthday. I relapsed when my fiancee had heart failure due to his huffing that he struggled with since he was 14 and passed when he was 28. May 2018 was a horrible day. Not only had I lost my 3 children from earlier abuse and none of them have father’s all mainly due to addictions. But now my fiancee of 5 years left his then 1 old little girl who was turning 2 in about a mibyh without daddy. I relapsed and I relapsed hard. Went big this time. Straight to heroin and meth. I cannot tell you how many times I heard people call me a failure who would never amount to anything but a dirty worthless junkie. Kids deserved better then me. I was even told to go to Kensington in North Philly and die in ditch because nothing but scum in ditch is all I deserved. Well people like that are the reason we feel we are not good enough and at least in my life it negatively affects my mental health. I am diagnosed with depression, ptsd, bipolar and ADHD. My head already jacked. People who look at us negatively or say ignorant words just do not understand and may not ever get it. I have now been clean since October 4th so approx 5 months. Got my kids back to where I can see them and my 2 year old is with me half and her paternal grandparents half time. We are always gonna have a battle to fight but I know now if I would have let those comments impact my getting sober then I would have been lowering myself down to the level of ignorance that those people who speak them are at. I know that my 14 and 12 year old told me if I use to tell them. They would rather me tell them because they would be devastated if they lost me too and be without either parent all because of some ignorace someone spoke who made me feel like I was not worthy or able to be healthy and sober. I know i blabbed on quite a bit but I want to thank you for commenting because i could feel my anxiety going up. I have lost many people because they were to ashamed for asking for help. I also know many people who have relapsed 10-13 times. As long as they are here now it is gonna be ok. One day at a time.
There’s so many spot-on points you make here re; the rules, scoreboard, and how addiction and sobriety is measured. There are many elements of Rehab Inc. that are counterproductive, rigid, and don’t allow for enough flexibility to reach many who seek help within that system. However, it reminds me of a Winston Churchill comment I’ll quote: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms.”
As rehab has become such big business, it’s allowed for a lot subpar treatment, as profiteers get into the business in larger numbers. But, even the crappiest place in existence is still much better than the hell that is addiction, and shouldn’t be used as an excuse for not progressing. Hopefully we humanoids continue to develop, improve and enhance all facets of substance abuse treatment, so the oft rigidity of the most common treatment approaches can have the insight and understanding to make adjustments and reach those people where the typical approach hasn’t worked well. I really liked your post Sarah. And thanks to Dizzy for providing the forum, sharing her story, and maintaining the site. Whether as an outlet, or seeking knowledge and understanding, she does a great service by providing and maintaining this site.
There is no real “100% hard fact based” system set up that gives anyone an accurate rate of not only current sobriety, but what else did they move to/or become addicted to. Many addicts that are sober from one thing just become addicted to other (healthy sounding) church, meetings, running highs or fitness or food health obsessions, or hundreds of other current schemes and dreams. They are still on the white knuckle addiction treadmill. I feel we need a whole new set of treatments available for addictive personalities and stop using the old “we’ll tell them how effed up we are because of them; and that will make them stop (fill in the blank) and be perfect”
Church meetings and running highs versus opiate addiction and the hell that comes with it? I’ll take a church meeting any day.
Though I do agree that telling some how fucked up they are and how they’re hurting others is not necessarily the most therapeutic approach.
It is rather hard to believe that 60% or so are sober. Considering the success rate of most clinic’s is around 5%, I agree with Dan, what do they do, fill out a questionnaire? It just doesn’t make sense that so many would still be sober, unless there is all kinds of follow up help after the show that’s keeping them inline.
My friend went to Transformation in FL and yeah there is follow up.They really seem to care at this rehab they even fronted her money for a flight from Mi.She had been at several rehabs not through intervention and she said this one was the most intense.I pray she stays sober.I hope the rates are close.One death is too many.I hate addiction
exactly…even van vonderen relapsed. so do these numbers include people who relapsed and then got sober again? You can take those with a grain of salt…
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/07/21/the-new-ae-reality-show-intervention-with-jeff-vanvonderen-and-candy-finnigan.html
I’m looking for a particular episode. The woman was addicted to meth or crack or maybe bath salts. But there is one scene where she is walking the streets talking crazy and says the phrase “what are words? we don’t even know what spinal fluid is yet”
what episode is this!?
Thanks
That was Jenna. I think it was in Season 10 or maybe 11.
Sierra perhaps? She had a downright frightening meth induced psychosis
Her name was Jeanna from oregon, season 11 episode 12. JENNA is the heroin addict Massachusetts.
The success rate is based on what percentage of the intervenees completed their 90 days rehab. Period. Whatever happens after they left rehab is no longer relevant: it’s a success story and will be taken account as such.
For instance, Megan completed her stint in rehab so she’s a success story and helps inflate the success rate. Never mind that she relapsed later on (actually pretty fast) and died from an heroin overdose.
So yeah, it’s easy to boast about a stratospheric success rate.
I do believe that this show would have a higher success rate than normal rehab rates. Most if not all of the addicts here have been to prior treatments and failed, thus this is their last resort! Plus the fact of knowing that your story is shown to millions would definitely put added emphasis on wanting to succeed!
FFS, I’m amazed and overjoyed at the percentage of them still alive. Statistics are just numbers and some people get way too excited about cutting them down. If the subject of the intervention is alive, not sticking needles in their neck, talking in cogent sentences and maybe even having a job with a payroll check, I’m fine with calling that a success. I look at their eyes in the follow-up – are they in there? Do they want to be in there more than they don’t? If yes to both, then that looks like a success to me.
What sober living for women in Michigan do you use ? What is the closest one to Berkley 48072 ? Also if possible one that has women in 50’s would be great but not necessary.Went to Transformation rehab in Fl.Heard it’s used on intervention.Also if you can tell me the price range excellent
complete bs….no way 60% still sober, i’d bet 20% and that’s being generous,once you get to the point of a family intervention, your chances are slim, and yes i’d know because i’m an addict
think the stats sadly need to be updated
The number that have died is now 41. I’m not county Ziggy and Lindsey as they were exclusively Intervention Canada episodes.
You’re right, but the show hasn’t provided any stats like this since 2013. We only know of those who have died, no way to know how many are still sober. Wish I had a connection to the producers or something.