Season 8

A traumatic childhood event and later health problems trap a man in a cycle of substance abuse.

A mechanic turns to drugs and alcohol following the drug-related deaths of his brother and sister.

Amy and her family immigrated to Canada to escape the violence of South Africa; Amy has become anorexic and bulimic.

Ashley started using heroin when her grandfather passed away; her family fears that she will overdose and die.

A former boxer fights homelessness and crack addiction for his life.

Shane's musical aspirations are being ruined by his abuse of prescription medications (OxyContin). He even deals the drugs out of his family's home and puts them in danger. Shane's father was a drug addict who died from an overdose, so what will it take for Shane to realize that what he is doing is dangerous to himself and damaging to those around him?

Kristine has major health problems like a blood clot in her brain and recently news of leukemia, yet alcohol is a daily part of her life. With the heavy burden of medical problems, Kristine feels hopeless and figures drinking will simply ease the process of death. Can an intervention work in this case? If the disease is terminal, is an intervention even the answer?

Working as a fitness instructor at the most elite gyms and partying on the club circuit at night, Marquel seems to have the perfect life. But her family sees her exercise regime as obsessive-compulsive, and they watch her binge-drinking episodes end up in hospitalizations. They believe she is an exercise addict, bulimic, and alcoholic, and they have turned to interventionist Candy for help.

They're cheap, easy to get and legal. They're also deadly. But that's not stopping teenagers and young adults from using chemical inhalants to get high. Hundreds of everyday products--household cleaners, disinfectants, computer dusters--contain chemicals that when breathed in give a powerful five-second high. It's called huffing and studies show that over two million kids nationwide are doing it. We'll take a powerful look at the trend and how it is shocking parents and destroying young lives.

When Jason's mother and stepfather had twins, Jason felt abandoned. He dropped out of school and turned to drugs. Now he lives with his grandmother in a retirement community and takes up to 30 mgs. of Xanax and shoots heroin up to five times a day. After an overdose, Jason had multiple hospitalizations and four grand mal seizures.

John is a flight attendant who loves his job, but his lifestyle is fueling his alcoholism. When he was a boy, John's parents focused their attention on his "profoundly retarded" brother. His mother blamed herself for the disability and turned her anger towards John. Now John's alcoholism leaves him prone to blackouts.

Though he grew up in a close-knit family, Joe has felt lonely and isolated all his life. As a child, he was tormented by neighborhood boys, and his father viewed him as a failure. At age 8, Joe learned "the choking game," in which a person uses his hands to cut off the oxygen supply to his brain to get high.

Once a Hollywood success story, Lorna is now a crack addict. She danced on Soul Train and for the "Ike and Tina Turner Revue" in Las Vegas, then landed a big job at A&M records. But the music industry party scene led to drug addiction, and she even abandoned her three children. Lorna needs to get clean and make amends with her kids before it's too late.

When Amber was molested as a young child, she bottled up her emotions. She began binge eating, and became bulimic because she wanted to be popular and beautiful like her older sister. After high school, Amber had a baby and married, and managed to look like she was living an idyllic family life. But she was actually depressed, drinking heavily, and purging regularly.

Once bright, likable, and athletic, Andrew has become a gaunt, menacing OxyContin addict. As a child, Andrew learned to manipulate his father, Dan, who now admits, "I can't stand up to Andrew. He'll threaten to commit crimes and trash our motel room. I'd rather give him money for a pill than have him out robbing innocent people.

Attractive, charismatic 41year-old twins, Susie and Miriam, battle crack and alcohol addictions and each other as their career success and families slowly slip away.

Adam was once one of top skiers in the United States. As a Marine, he served in 15 countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan on terrorist-related missions. But when he came back home from overseas, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and started drinking. His alcohol abuse is ruining his body.

Every day, Donna, 47, and her son, Josh, 20, cause a storm of drinking, fighting, and chaos in the overcrowded home they share with Donna's sister, mother, and a stable-full of dogs and cats. Raised by alcoholic parents, Donna was exposed to violence and abuse at an early age, and later drank so heavily that she lost custody of her two children.