My kids are adults, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for me to sit back and stop parenting. Even young adults make stupid choices and that’s so evident from A&E’s series, Intervention. I’ve watched it for seasons and yes, most of what they showcase is typical drugs and alcohol abuse, but many times, like tonight, they feature a new way for addicts to get their fix and one I’ve not heard of or was aware of.
It was on an Intervention show that I learned about deadly inhalants that are sold in every office store. That show led me to talk to my boys and explain the dangers. I’m forever grateful for the knowledge and it touched me so much that I wrote, Do You Know the Signs of Inhalant Abuse? Take a Few Minutes To Find Out last December. Please take a moment to check out the post and the two videos associated with it to see just how devastating they can be and why you should talk to your child about the dangers of inhaling them – one time is all it takes to kill you – it’s the same inhalant that Demi Moore may have had convulsions after using last month so there’s no age or income restrictions.
Tonight the show featured Skyler, a 24-year old man who is addicted to a new stimulant drug, a synthetic that causes delusions and hallucinations. Called “bath salts,” this drug makes him see “shadow people” and he hears and feels people touching him and talking to him. He believes his home ifs full of “a massive pile of bodies.” Sadly, this “drug” is sold in stores and is legal. Many responsible stores have pulled it from their shelves, but others are taking advantage of the popularity with addicts and are still selling it. It’s cheap, easy to get, and legal, but it can keep users up for 72-hours at a time and lead to severe paranoia. (See a preview for this bath salts addiction show here and well as an extended intervention video.)
What’s sad is Skyler was child who started out being active in sports and school. But he started smoking marijuana at a very young age because he felt pressured by his mother who pushed him into TV and modeling, and that led to this new addiction. He’s no longer working as a model, in fact, he has no job at all. He walks around the home with a flash light and squirt bottle shooting at “refractions.” He climbs a ladder onto the roof to look for shadow people.
I’m still watching the show as I write this but sadly, I know how it turns out. While searching for information on bath salts I came across an article that said that Skyler could not be interviewed because he’s still using and still hallucinating. That makes me so sad. Please tell your kids ONE time can lead to a lifetime of addiction of any drug – I’ve known too many really wonderful parents who’s kids “tried it one time” and several have now died. I’ll never be in the legalize drugs camp, it’s just too devastating for the entire family.
Intervention is an award winning reality how that airs on Mondays at 10PM EST on A&E. It follows a standard format wherein we meet the addict, watch him/her use, and then meet the family and see a pictorial of the addict’s life. Then the addict is followed for a week or so and then the intervention takes place. It’s not always successful and not every addict that agrees to go to treatment provided by the centers in return for being featured on the show is successful. The show always ends with an update on the person and it’s incredible how attached I get and how much I hope every one of them will get help and survive. But that’s where reality creep in – some relapse, some make it, and some die.
Download the Bath Salts episode on iTunes for $2.99 or catch one of the upcoming episodes scheduled for: Tuesday, February 21 02:01 AM ET, Monday, March 12 11:00 PM ET, and Tuesday, March 13 03:01 AM ET.
:me:
Photo credit: A&E.com (editing by me)
Related articles
- ‘Intervention’: Skyler Is Addicted To Bath Salts (EXCLUSIVE) (huffingtonpost.com)
- Woman Injects ‘Bath Salts,’ Loses Arm To Flesh-Eating Bacteria (npr.org)
- Statement from White House On Synthetic Stimulants, a.k.a “Bath Salts” (addictionts.com)
- Flesh-Eating Disease Blamed on ‘Bath Salts’ (abcnews.go.com)
- ‘Intervention’: Dorothy Runs Away From Help (huffingtonpost.com)
- Intervention: The Rehab Show That Works (thedailybeast.com)
- You: A&E’s ‘Intervention’ returns with more pain – Macomb Daily (macombdaily.com)
- A&E’S ‘Hoarders,’ ‘Intervention’ Return For All-New Seasons On January 2, 2012 (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)
- A&E’s Intervention has a 71% success rate (realityblurred.com)
- ‘Intervention’: Will Zeinah Enter Rehab For The Sake Of Her Daughter? (huffingtonpost.com)
- Intervention camera operator, who naked woman spit chicken on, answers questions (realityblurred.com)
- Dr Drew Celebrity Rehab without the Celebrities Looking for Participants (miscfinds4u.com)
No, the main reason why parents should watch this episode is to remind yourself how to NEVER PARENT or raise a child. The mother on that show was horrible; a teenage dropout who had skylar with an Exotic Dancer who abandoned them both. She then used her kid as a paycheck. Now you see all the resentment and anger he had at his mother that entire time coming out.
If nothing else. Please learn to not treat your sensitive, precious children like crap. This is what could happen.
What’s sad is that bath salts aren’t even a drug. Skylar was either out of his mind before, or he’s just seeking attention. This bath salt nonsense is just a bunch of hype, made worse by all the misinformation from people who don’t know what they are talking about or simply lying about stuff and telling stories on the Internet.
Bath salts started being sold at pipe shops because meth users figured out that it looks like meth, so they either sold it to people to rip them off or they cut their meth with it to increase their profits. Idiots started actually using it to try to get high, and the hype simply manifested itself.
Personally, I think Skylar was just acting out for attention. Never in the history of Intervention has someone acted like Skylar. The closest the show has come was where people heard Inge or were paranoid about REAL people, not hearing imaginary phase shifting shadow people and making weapons out of flashlights to fight them. Drugs don’t make you hear imaginary phase shifting shadow people; they make you lie and steal and neglect your responsibilities, but not all that crap.
Before you get mad at me, I will just say that I have had a lot of experience with all of this, and I know what I’m talking about. We don’t need to be inventing fake drugs for people to get all worked up about or make me sound interesting for people to try. I’m sure snorting salt isn’t good for you (YUCK!)
I enjoyed this article. As disturbing as it is, I love intervention. There was an older episode with a young woman that did inhalents. The kind to dust off the computer keyboards. So sad. She was just a shell. I would think watching these with your young adult children would be an eye opener. So many don’t even make it through re-hab. I like to watch the follow up episodes and see those that stay sober and recover.