Meet the Sharp Caregiver Video — Penny Rothschild

(1:38)
Meet Caregiver Penny Rothschild
Penny, a chemical dependency counselor, talks about addiction
Penny, a chemical dependency counselor, talks about addiction

For more information: Find a doctor

Transcript

This disease touches all of us at some, in some realm or in some fashion. We’ve all been touched by addiction and, oftentimes, it’s overlooked unless, of course, we’re looking and we’re listening.

My father was an addict, alcoholic, and for many years he was estranged from the time I was a toddler. And we would see him a year, a week, every couple of years, and kind of in and out of our life. And it took my father from me.

Once I really became aware of what addiction is, and educated myself, and see first-hand how debilitating, how powerful this is, that’s it’s not, it wasn’t his fault. It was all he knew. Because the addict is not a bad person trying to do good, but it’s a sick person trying to get well.

You are not a bad person. You are not your disease, and you are not the lady that walked in here all scared.

We become a team. That’s what it is, is I work with these patients, and I’m a teammate. We’re shoulder to shoulder, and with that there becomes a real bonding. And then I get to see them go on.

You know, they come in here with, barely able to stand if you will, literally and figuratively, and they come back running. And it’s a beautiful thing to get to be a part of that.