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Mother Fears For Her Son’s Life As He Battles Addiction | KARAMO

27 Oct 2022 · 1 min

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1:28

In this Karamou interview, host Karamo mediates a tense conversation between a mother (Speaker B) and her son (Speaker C) about the son’s long‑standing substance use. The son recounts beginning Xanax at age 11, later experimenting with meth for three months, and experiencing memory gaps around age 18. The mother expresses deep fear that her son will become another statistic and die, questioning whether his yelling stems from fear or anger. Karamo probes the origins of the son’s trust issues, highlights the lack of a “baseline” for healthy communication due to early drug exposure, and stresses that recovery requires the addict’s own commitment. He shares his own experience of giving his son an ultimatum to enter rehab, emphasizing the need for firm boundaries from family members. The dialogue oscillates between accusations, pleas for self‑value, and Karamo’s attempts to steer the family toward actionable steps toward treatment.

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So my producer said you say she always yells? Yeah. Okay.
Am I yelling out of fear or out of anger? Or am I terrified that my son is gonna become another statistic and be dead in my garage?
I'm not gonna be another junkie in your garage.
You didn't have the ability to say no to meth.
So? When did you start using drugs? When did you start using drugs? Like, I recently started using meth 3 months ago. That was just like experimenting and stuff. Didn't like it, so I just quit. Okay, and what were you using before that? Tried it for 3 months.
Huh? You tried it for 3 months. What were you using before that? Xanax. Got it. How old were you when you tried your drugs for the first time? 11. You were 11. And where did you get drugs from? My neighbors. Your neighbors. And that was weed or what was that? Xanax. Xanax.
Who gave you Xanax?
That's confidential. Okay, so the only reason I'm asking that is because I was trying to get a pinpoint of your relationship beforehand and where maybe the trust issues could have started. But if you tried Xanax at 11, that means since 11 you've been in an altered state. So there's no baseline of what a good relationship or good communication is. Yeah, I really— Because you were always in a cloud of some sense.
When I was turning like 18, I started like realizing like I haven't remembered like any months or nothing like that. But I got a good memory still of some stuff, but yeah. Do you value your life? I do. You do?
I don't think he values himself. You value yourself? No idea how amazing he is.
Well, Mom, this is the end of the day, Mom. Again, this is one of the things about addiction and rehab is that the person who is addicted has to make the commitment. When I sent my son to rehab, I didn't force him. I said to him, either you have to make the commitment to go or I have to take a step back and not be in your life. And these were the things These are some of the sort of the boundaries you have to set with someone's addiction. You're not setting any boundaries, Mom.