Topic : 11/20 The Dr. Phil House: Heroin Twins, The Intervention

Read through a few of the comments concerning the twins.  I wasn't able to see the show due to caring for my own 2 1/2 year old identical twin boys.  I read one comment from someone who was a recovered addict.  Congratulations to you!  My concern is yes, a person has to admit they have a problem to begin to get help but what if the drugs have consumed you so much to the point you cannot distinguish truth from a lie or your mind is gone and you cannot reason or even have logic.  As far as the mother raising them.  It must have been hard if she raised them on her own.  I believe we all have choices and sometimes I think we just have not been presented the proper tools to be able to have the knowledge to know how to handle some difficult situations when they come our way.  Many people say poor single mom but I say many people have done it.  I believe in families but who knows what her situation was.  LIke I said I haven't seen the show or her comments to fully make any judgements.  Plus I have no knowledge at all to know how drugs affect you.  I could have easily  gone that way but I had some good intervention to teach me what they do, much of that was religion.  I do thank God for that.  All the best for these girls!!

I am 37 years old and a recovering herion addict of 13 years.  I had about a 3 year addiction to the herion from 21-24 and was an active alcoholic from 11 to 24. 

Those girls ain't gonna get clean unless they are sick and tired of being sick and tired.....period.  That lady in recovery following her around with a camara (and Dr. Phil) should know that you can't help the addict unless they want to help themselves.  

Is Dr. Phil really prepared  and equiped to deal with the serious herion withdrawls Sarah is going to go thru at the Dr. Phil House?? I was wondering about that when Sarah got on the plane. It certainly will be better than withdrawing in a jail cell (done did that!), but she is still going to be one sick girl for at least 2 weeks...the worst of it anyways.

All said, I do hope the girls are ready to get clean and off the street. Sarah won't be around long if she don't given that she has Hep.C; her liver will surely shut down and will need interferon or other treatment.  The treatment alone is wicked and her body may not be able to handle it unless she's been clean awhile.  I have a good friend of mine who has been clean from herion/cocaine for 14 years.  Years later she learned she was Hep C positive...even then the interferon treament literally kicked her arse!!  She's not the only one....half of the people coming into the "program' are positive.   Let's hope neither has contracted HIV to make matter even worse.  But for the Grace of God go I, I came out with none of the above. 

To the girls....If you can hang on to your 'arse' and let someone else drive the wheel for awhile it will get easier.  I promise you that.

Vera

I just retired after 20 years working in one of the largest County Jail systems in the country. I have seen many people like these twins, most of them female. It is unlikely that they can get off the drugs and stay clean, and even if by some miracle they do, they have done so much damage to their brains and bodies that they will probably not be self sufficient, functioning members of society. Rather, like thousands of other drug addicts, they will manage to draw from the social security pot, to which they have never contributed, and drain it so those who have worked their entire lives will loose benefits. As an example, just before I retired, a female inmate approached me and said that she remembered me from years ago at a different facility. I told her that was when I just started working for the county. Then I added, "That means you have been coming to jail for the whole twenty years that I have been workiing here. I am retiring, what about you?"  Sad, but true.

Dr.phil I missed this show but still have some comments on the matter.  I am unsure of how the mother of these girls would let it get to this point.  Divorce or no divorce.  As a mother you are supposed to make sure that you children are safe from danger and should have interviened a long time ago.  Sure the mother is only one person but and there are police to help prtect people from temselves.   

          The power of love is alot stronger than any drug that you can take.  I have only noticed that since I gave birth to my son that is now 11 1/2 months old.  I have not touched drugs for six years and have not had a drink in 2 years and that does not bother me at all.  Maybe the young woman will realize all of this when she sees her baby for the first time and that brings tears to her eyes. 

I don't think some of you know what an intervention is. It doesn't matter if the twins are ready to quit or not, people that love them can see if something isn't done for them, they will die. Once they're in treatment the staff can get to the core of why they started using in the first place and work out from there. I am a recovering heroin addict so I have a pretty good understanding of what these girls are going through. Once they're detoxed and eating healthy, the work begins and it won't be fun, believe me. They are going to have a million and one reasons why they can't stop using. The biggest one is that it hurts too much to quit and look at yourself through a magnifiying glass. I pray they will get through this and live long healthy lives. They have to always remember they can never use again and they will always be addicts, recovering addicts. One day at a time and sometimes one minute at a time but they can if they have sponsors and lots of support around them. They will learn to pick up the phone before they pick up the drugs and ask for help.Good Luck and God Bless

I understand that an addict must want help in order to stop using/doing what they are addicted to.  However, there are times when the addict wants to change, and as here where I am from, there is at least a two week waiting period to get into rehabiliation programs.  By then, the addict has usually become weak, and given in.  Aren't we all addicted to something?  Food, tv, sports, internet, games, cigarettes, drugs, sex - the list can go on and on.  Addiction is not just physical. There is the psychological part that is the toughest to break.  My daughter covers her pain with heroin, feels guilty, then uses again.

Our country's legal system needs to get tough on the dealers. They need to make them responsible for keeping these addicts supplied with drugs. In my daughter's case, she has a man that supplies her with her heroin in exchange for her prostituting and giving him the money. 

In our state (California), the jails are so overcrowded and prisons, that most of the time they are not even held responsible for what they do.

I wonder if they have thought about how they would feel if it was it was their mom, daughter, sister, that they were doing this to.

I pray that on this Thanksgiving (and every day) that my daughter is safe, has food,  a warm place to stay tonight, and a place in her heart for her family

Love will not overpower drugs, if you want to use, you will. You won't stop until you are ready or you have an intervention like the twins did