The subject of the program was a 64 year old lady named Sandi. Sandi is an alcoholic and her family is trying to get her to take steps to end her addiction. To begin, Sandi freely admits she is an alcoholic and she likens being buzzed to freedom because, she does not have to worry about anything. She consciously tries to become "obliterated" because she wants to shut down. although she also acknowledges that this cycle just goes on and on and on. She knows the drinking is hurting her health, but her body needs it. The drinking has also affected her personality. Her family considers her a mean drunk and as a result, they are becoming distant or alienated from her.
The show then goes on to show us the experiences in her life. Her mom remarried when she was 11. The mom and step-dad were big partiers and did not provide a good family life. Sandi felt abandoned, like the kids were an afterthought. She married at 18, had twin daughters and a son who had a mental disability. Soon after, her husband left and she felt abandoned again. She began drinking at age 25 because alcohol eased the feelings of abandonment she felt.
Once she becomes a grandmother, she stopped drinking and had "found herself" again. Shortly thereafter, her son is in an accident and suffers additional brain damage. He starts acting more violently and the stress causes her to relapse and she starts drinking constantly. She daily consumes a liter of gin, along with many glasses of beer and wine. I did not find the documentary all that informative, because we have learned about how the stresses of life affect our actions and interactions and how drinking is a defensive coping mechanism. …show more content…
This program also highlights factors of the multifactorial model because long term alcohol abuse can lead to server heart, liver and brain damage. I did learn that the premise of the show, namely an intervention, follows a system developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services* which includes intervention, detoxification and motivational counseling. What surprised me was how interconnected the stresses and actions of Sandi, her mother and her daughter were. Sandi 's childhood experiences led to depression and at the beginning of the intervention, her mom was in denial of the way her actions had adversely affected her daughter. The abandonment of her husband ended up starting the cycle of alcohol abuse, and Sandi was in denial about the profoundly negative feelings of abandonment felt by her daughter as a result. The fact that the daughter became totally alienated from Sandi, compounded the feeling that she had been abandoned by the daughter, and the daughter projected the anger of her feelings of Sandi 's abandonment toward her own children. In the end, the counselor points out to Sandi 's mom and daughter how Sandi rationalized the factors that resulted in her addiction and how all of their actions and interactions perpetuated the stresses that each of them experiences. The counselor asks Sandi to go the rehab, but she flatly refuses. When Sandi 's mom breaks down and apologizes for her actions during Sandi 's childhood and the daughter comes to realize
The show then goes on to show us the experiences in her life. Her mom remarried when she was 11. The mom and step-dad were big partiers and did not provide a good family life. Sandi felt abandoned, like the kids were an afterthought. She married at 18, had twin daughters and a son who had a mental disability. Soon after, her husband left and she felt abandoned again. She began drinking at age 25 because alcohol eased the feelings of abandonment she felt.
Once she becomes a grandmother, she stopped drinking and had "found herself" again. Shortly thereafter, her son is in an accident and suffers additional brain damage. He starts acting more violently and the stress causes her to relapse and she starts drinking constantly. She daily consumes a liter of gin, along with many glasses of beer and wine. I did not find the documentary all that informative, because we have learned about how the stresses of life affect our actions and interactions and how drinking is a defensive coping mechanism. …show more content…
This program also highlights factors of the multifactorial model because long term alcohol abuse can lead to server heart, liver and brain damage. I did learn that the premise of the show, namely an intervention, follows a system developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services* which includes intervention, detoxification and motivational counseling. What surprised me was how interconnected the stresses and actions of Sandi, her mother and her daughter were. Sandi 's childhood experiences led to depression and at the beginning of the intervention, her mom was in denial of the way her actions had adversely affected her daughter. The abandonment of her husband ended up starting the cycle of alcohol abuse, and Sandi was in denial about the profoundly negative feelings of abandonment felt by her daughter as a result. The fact that the daughter became totally alienated from Sandi, compounded the feeling that she had been abandoned by the daughter, and the daughter projected the anger of her feelings of Sandi 's abandonment toward her own children. In the end, the counselor points out to Sandi 's mom and daughter how Sandi rationalized the factors that resulted in her addiction and how all of their actions and interactions perpetuated the stresses that each of them experiences. The counselor asks Sandi to go the rehab, but she flatly refuses. When Sandi 's mom breaks down and apologizes for her actions during Sandi 's childhood and the daughter comes to realize