My new addiction, ironically enough....

A few weeks ago as I sipped my coffee and perused through the pitiful array of Saturday morning television, I came across a show on A&E that I had heard of but was never in the mood to watch. It's called appropriately, Intervention. I guess I was feeling in the mood this particular day so I clicked and began my dissent into the mind of the addict.

I must say, this show is not only raw to the point I have to turn away at times but also brought me to tears almost every time. I find myself on Saturdays sinking into hours of some marathon like Real World, the Hills or some TNT movie like Shawshank Redemption, which seems to be on almost as much as the Nightly News. Today, A&E happened to be broadcasting an Intervention marathon. Why would anyone subject themselves to hours of watching people hit the proverbial "rock-bottom" with an addiction and subsequently receive a family intervention? Well, me.

Although about half these stories do turn out as happy-endings, there is a gut-wrenching roller coaster ride to get there. I can't turn away though. The notion that there is possibly going to be an update at the end of the show and the white text will flash on the screen saying that so-and-so has been sober for over a year keeps me watching perhaps. I crave a happy ending, yearn for some clear cut "sober" answer that will make me want to get out of bed on this Saturday and feel that the world has cured someone of a horrible disease and is thus a better, more compassionate place for doing so. I seek the catharsis, if you will. All the while, I am sitting there, clutching my covers and saying, "Whew, that was a close call, I thought they were going to die." Perhaps my own addiction became this show on this particular day. I needed my "fix" to feel I was exempt from their plight. It's why we all go to scary movies. We sit in horror thinking that somehow we are experiencing this pain and then relieved as we dump our coke and popcorn at the door. We have to validate our "ok-ness" somehow and perhaps that is my reasoning. I don't know. Regardless, it points out the fact that with the varying degrees of addiction, there is a person literally crying for something to save them from their sabotage. Not all addicts are cognisant of their plight.

It made me feel thankful afterwards that it wasn't me in that dark place. When a commercial presents itself, I am suddenly reminded where I am and surprised that I am not scrounging the couch looking for spare change for a hit. It's that real, I tell you.

I mean, I'd be a hypocrite, as would most, to think that we all don't in some way have our own little addictions. We may or may not keep them hidden but the only difference between the people on this show and some of us is that they get caught. I guess what drew me to this show was that it was reassuring to watch someone spiral into an abyss of self-destruction while I comfortably watched with my coffee and my pillow. Honestly, I guess it wasn't so much "reassuring" as it was just a relief that it wasn't me being portrayed or hurting in the way these people are.

I know I have a dark side as some would say, and Chas always comments on my pension for the macabre, but this show should win some award. The success stories make me cry and the stories where the person is lost among their addiction forever makes me weep. I guess I personally have dealt with addictions, we all have to degrees, and perhaps I am drawn to these stories because it makes a point that no one is exempt. There isn't a prototype for addiction whether it be food, drugs, sex, gambling or whatever. The governing theme among the addicted is that everyone afflicted was in some way affected by tragedy, divorce, abuse and the list goes on. It all started with childhood. They didn't wake up and say, "today is a good day to start shooting Oxycontin" or "I think I want to stave myself today". It's over simplified in the media when famous people succumb to addiction only to materialize exactly 28-days later, bright-eyed and bushy tailed from the Promises "resort" in Malibu or another posh locale. The stories on Intervention are about real people with addiction minus the sensationalism we normally see.

If you're up to it, watch.