Caterina Scorsone plays Dr. Amelia Shepherd on ABC's Private Practice.
Credits:
Angela Weiss Getty Images
'Private Practice' Amelia's addiction Part 1: Rock bottom
There
is no good prognosis for an addict who refuses to get help and
continues to feed the potentially fatal brain disease of addiction with
substances of abuse. The National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports there
are more deaths, illness, and disabilities from substance abuse than
from any other preventable health condition. Dr. Amelia Shepherd’s
addiction comes to a riveting climax this week as her Seaside Health and
Wellness family try to reach out and save her from rock bottom in a
very intense and painfully realistic intervention. I am covering the
story in 2 parts. The first is 'Part 1 Rock bottom'. The second is 'Part 2 The Road to Recovery'. For both pieces, I consulted Lisa Frederiksen Founder of BreakingtheCycles.com,
a San Francisco-based addiction researcher/speaker/author, who is also
tracking this very graphic and emotional ‘Private Practice’ storyline.
We spoke yesterday and Frederiksen described Caterina Scorsone’s
performance during this week’s episode, ‘The Breaking Point’, as
'wonderful' and 'very real'. She said:
