Intervention

Ben, 25, experienced a childhood filled with domestic violence, homelessness and isolation. He never got to fulfill the potential of his 170 I.Q. and found a new way to find comfort when he was in high school–a drug called DXM. Now, Ben spends his days shoplifting, panhandling, and even prostituting himself to finance his drug addiction. Desperate to help Ben, his mother arranges an intervention that’s her last hope for saving his life. Next, a talented singer and the owner of his own karaoke business, 22-year-old Josh is addicted to food and weighs 550 lbs. Josh’s father, Rex, has the same weight problem–at 317 lbs., he’s a diabetic who’s had six strokes. Now, Rex watches helplessly as Josh follows in his footsteps toward an early death. Josh’s mother and two brothers hope that an intervention will be a wake-up call for the whole family to choose health.

Tressa, 32, attended college on a track and field scholarship and became one of the world’s top female shot-putters, earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Tressa’s dreams were broken when a routine drug test revealed that she had been using meth.

The chaos and bloodshed that Brad witnessed as a young soldier in Iraq, including the death of a close friend, left him emotionally damaged. He now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and uses alcohol and marijuana to quell the endless nightmares and flashbacks that haunt him. Brad’s temper also flares and he’s had several incidents of blackout drinking which have led to two car accidents. His parents and sisters are terrified that Brad will kill himself or someone else in a drunken stupor. An intervention is their final attempt to save his life.

Chad was a pro cyclist and was on the same team as Lance Armstrong. But after getting kicked off the team for personality conflicts, Chad was crushed and turned to drugs. Now homeless, Chad spends his days panhandling, smoking crack, and drinking.

Dan is an alcoholic. An adolescence filled with physical violence and verbal abuse left Dan with deep emotional pain. Dan’s family desperately hopes that an intervention will turn his life around.

Sandra’s pill use is so bad that her two sons have left the house. Her best friend, Julie, moved in with her, and although Julie suffers from multiple sclerosis, she takes care of all the housework. Her family is ready to try an intervention.

A Sophia Loren look-alike, Marie was born into an Italian mob family. When her parents’ marriage end, Marie and her mother struggled with extreme poverty. Marie’s three marriages ended in divorce, but she was still determined to give her children what she didn’t have growing up. Despite her own unhappy love life, she became a highly successful matchmaker and well known socialite. She even appeared on shows like 60 Minutes. Then Marie met her fourth husband, Bora, an addict and alcoholic. Marie tried to clean him up, but developed her own addiction to alcohol. Bora’s alcoholism killed him, and now Marie is headed down the same road–fast. Marie’s family knows an intervention is her last hope.

Growing up in a South Boston neighborhood run by the Irish mob, Tom got caught up in the gangster lifestyle. By his 20s, he was dealing drugs and running with the wise guys while holding down his day job as a fireman at the Boston Fire Department. Throughout it all, Tom remained a dedicated and loving father to his four children. Eventually, Tom’s other life caught up with him after being indicted on drug charges. He lost everything — his house, his job, and his family’s respect. Can an intervention help Tom and heal his fractured family?

Born into a mixed-race family in a predominantly white town, Asa struggled with low self-esteem and body image growing up. Classmates teased him because of his size, ethnicity, and effeminate manner. Desperate to loss weight, Asa became bulimic. He came out as a gay man at 19 and started using hard drugs and drinking heavily. For the past 10 years, Asa has been working towards his college degree. Being a medical science student, he understands how his eating disorder and alcoholism are affecting him, but he’s been unable to stop. His family now realizes that an intervention is their last chance to help Asa.

He was once a championship bodybuilder and successful property owner. But when he turned 30, Derek felt he was over the hill and became severely depressed. He started drinking to cope with the pressures of marriage and the responsibilities of getting older. His beautiful wife left, and now Derek’s days are all the same–he sits in his dark basement, smoking and drinking and bemoaning the loss of his wife. He narrowly survived one suicide attempt and his family is worried he’ll try again. An intervention is their last hope.

She was a pre-med student on her way to becoming a surgeon, but the trauma of being molested as a child and her parents’ brutal divorce haunted Allison. She started to inhale computer dust remover, which is potentially fatal with each breath. Her erratic behavior and absence from classes got Allison dropped from the pre-med program. Allison is currently inhaling up to ten cans of dust remover a day. Can interventionist Jeff help Allison and her family?

A 44-year-old singer and songwriter, Phillip used music to escape the pain of an unstable childhood. He gained fame due to his charisma and musical talents, but Phillip now consumes up to four pints of peppermint schnapps a day. He lost his career, the love of his life, and the respect of his family. Can Phillip break the grip of addiction before he loses the most precious relationship in his life, the one he shares with his 11-year-old daughter?

When Kristen was 3, her parents divorced and soon after her grandparents died, and Kristen somehow felt responsible. Then Kristen’s mother married an alcoholic and addict, whose daughter introduced Kristen to drugs. By 15, Kristen was getting high. Currently, Kristen shoots heroin and cocaine, and then stays with her parents to recover. Ridden with guilt, Kristen’s mother is desperate to save her only daughter’s life.

Ed, 53, and Bettina, 49, had a picture-perfect life, including three adoring kids, a dream home, sports cars, motorcycles, and a respected place in their church community. But six years ago, Ed made a bad career move and ended up unemployed. He and Bettina lost everything they had worked for. They began to drink, and quickly became alcoholics. Ed has been hospitalized for internal bleeding, and Bettina for withdrawals so excruciating she thought she was dying. Their children have begged them to stop drinking, but it only strengthens the bond between Ed and Bettina, leaving the children to wonder, “How do you intervene on a married couple?”

The liquor cabinets of the 1950s have become the medicine cabinets of today. In one port town on Florida’s west coast, pharmaceutical drug abuse and its often fatal consequences are sharply on the rise, particularly among teenagers and other young people. This year, deaths from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the area are on pace to exceed accidental deaths from car accidents–and legal drugs account for three times as many overdoses as illegal drugs. Many officials believe that the drug dealer on the corner has been replaced by the pharmacies and pain clinics that now litter the streets of this community. Meet several people whose lives have been taken over by abuse of deadly and addictive drugs–all of which are perfectly legal. We’ll also meet a group of community members and experts who are taking to the streets and airwaves in the hopes of stopping this silent epidemic once and for all.

A look at how parents in some Boston suburbs are coping with a heroin addiction epidemic that is threatening their kids’ lives.