Anybody else watch Intervention on A&E?
Monday night was fold-and-sort-the-laundry night – Julie washes and dries now since I shrank her two new Happy Bunny shirts this weekend – so I watched a couple of episodes I had recorded. I have to watch it solo and laundry night I’m on my own.
If you haven’t seen it, Intervention producers hook up with an addict or someone else with a compulsive behavior like an eating disorder or gambling on the premise of filming an addiction documentary. What the subject doesn’t know is that their family and friends are setting them up for an actual intervention and treatment. The result is the absolute best reality show on television. I even hesitate to use the term reality TV – this is not in the same class as Flavor of Love, The Hills, America’s Got Talent or any other show Joel McHale ridicules weekly on The Soup.
About 10 minutes in, you’ve seen the subject (sorry, I can’t think of a better word) shoot up, drink, argue, borrow, eat, puke and generally inflict suffering on themselves and those around them. Then, with a photo collage and remorseful music, loved ones describe the past. Life was good, they were strong people, they had a lot going for them and then IT happened.
Sometimes IT is a single event: an instance of abuse, a parent bails, a spouse’s death, a rape. Other times, the IT shapes the addict over years: verbal or physical abuse by a parent, physical injury or sustained sexual abuse. It’s really heartbreaking to see a person’s psyche damaged by the careless words and selfish actions of others. What’s worse is the attitude of people who think the addict should just get over their past and stop the destructive behavior. Really? If it were really that easy, they would have stopped on their own already.
During the actual intervention, the subject arrives at the “final interview” to find loved ones and a professional interventionist waiting instead. The family reads prepared letters to the addict about how much they care, worry and love them along with statements about the effect of the behavior on the relationship. After this, a treatment program is offered – and not, “We’re thinking about this place in Phoenix” either. It’s more like, “We’ve got a plane ticket for today to start treatment tonight.” If counseling is refused, family members read from another statement that details how they will cut off the addict, forcing them to rock bottom faster. Few refuse. Most go. A lot are successful and recover. Some don’t.
I get two take-aways from every show:
First, drugs suck. Every middle and high school should show multiple episodes during drug education classes. Watching a former high school athlete’s eyes roll back in her head when she injects heroin or the genius stumble around after eating a bottle of cough suppressant might yield more than current abstract teaching methods.
Second, think about what you say before you say it. Words have the power to create or destroy things inside other people – especially in children. Most of the parents on the show did the best they could at the time and they were damaged in a lot of ways themselves. It’s that cycle of hurt that goes back to Adam. Paul’s Spirit-inspired admonition, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV) has a purpose. And God is willing to help us with that if we ask.
Ultimately, Intervention’s best quality is showing that love in action can overcome the problem. In fact, treatment is called a Gift of Love. And it is given in spite of the brokenness of the ones giving and receiving it.
