130: She Wasn’t This Stereotype with Elise Schiller

Published: Sept. 11, 2019, midnight

Author Elise Schiller joins Chelsea 16 minutes in to talk about what she discovered writing her first memoir, Even if Your Heart Would Listen: Losing My Daughter to Heroin. Through a collection of her daughter’s journal excerpts, planners, letters left behind as well as medical records, handouts from residential treatment, and her own research into today’s opioid crisis, Elise tries to weave together a clearer picture of what her daughter’s pathway toward recovery actually looked like and could have looked like were substance use disorders treated with medication first. What arises both in writing and in conversation is regret, resentment and, the single silver lining, advocacy. In terms of regret, it’s the guilt of a mother who now knowing what she knows believes she could have done more to protect her daughter not from her addiction so much as its archaic treatment method. As for resentment, it’s anger toward the experts and staff at the five residential and several outpatient programs who cut corners and had more loyalty toward insurance companies than the patients themselves. And when it comes to advocacy, it’s Elise’s dedication to now fighting for substance use disorders to be treated with medication and as a medical condition rather than a character defect, as an illness versus a matter of will.__To connect with Elise, visit her:Website: https://eliseschiller.comPurchase her memoir on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1684630088/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0Instagram: https://instagram.com/schiller.eliseFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/eliseschiller0926__Work with Chelsea: www.breakupward.com/shopChelsea’s website: www.breakupward.comSign up for Chelsea’s newsletter: bit.ly/tyhbletterInstagram: www.instagram.com/thankyouheartbreakConnect and send in your questions and/or letters viawww.instagram.com/thankyouheartbreakOr by email: Chelsea@breakupward.com