Addiction--What's Really Going On?

Addiction--What's Really Going On?

Author: Deborah McCloskey

Publisher: Loving Healing Press

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 193269093X

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"[A] truthful look into the world of Methadone treatment with a mix of compassion and humor. It is a great read for those in the recovery field and provides insight for those who do not understand the life of addiction and recovery."--Lori Carter-Runyon, executive director of Hilltop Recovery Services.


The Biology of Desire

The Biology of Desire

Author: Marc Lewis

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2015-07-14

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1610394380

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Through the vivid, true stories of five people who journeyed into and out of addiction, a renowned neuroscientist explains why the "disease model" of addiction is wrong and illuminates the path to recovery. The psychiatric establishment and rehab industry in the Western world have branded addiction a brain disease. But in The Biology of Desire, cognitive neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes a convincing case that addiction is not a disease, and shows why the disease model has become an obstacle to healing. Lewis reveals addiction as an unintended consequence of the brain doing what it's supposed to do-seek pleasure and relief-in a world that's not cooperating. As a result, most treatment based on the disease model fails. Lewis shows how treatment can be retooled to achieve lasting recovery. This is enlightening and optimistic reading for anyone who has wrestled with addiction either personally or professionally.


In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Author: Gabor Maté, MD

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 522

ISBN-13: 1583944206

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A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.


Dopamine Nation

Dopamine Nation

Author: Dr. Anna Lembke

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2023-01-03

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1524746746

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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER “Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick, as heard on Fresh Air This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption. In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.


Never Enough

Never Enough

Author: Judith Grisel

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 0385542852

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a renowned behavioral neuroscientist and recovering addict, a rare page-turning work of science that draws on personal insights to reveal how drugs work, the dangerous hold they can take on the brain, and the surprising way to combat today's epidemic of addiction. Judith Grisel was a daily drug user and college dropout when she began to consider that her addiction might have a cure, one that she herself could perhaps discover by studying the brain. Now, after twenty-five years as a neuroscientist, she shares what she and other scientists have learned about addiction, enriched by captivating glimpses of her personal journey. In Never Enough, Grisel reveals the unfortunate bottom line of all regular drug use: there is no such thing as a free lunch. All drugs act on the brain in a way that diminishes their enjoyable effects and creates unpleasant ones with repeated use. Yet they have their appeal, and Grisel draws on anecdotes both comic and tragic from her own days of using as she limns the science behind the love of various drugs, from marijuana to alcohol, opiates to psychedelics, speed to spice. With more than one in five people over the age of fourteen addicted, drug abuse has been called the most formidable health problem worldwide, and Grisel delves with compassion into the science of this scourge. She points to what is different about the brains of addicts even before they first pick up a drink or drug, highlights the changes that take place in the brain and behavior as a result of chronic using, and shares the surprising hidden gifts of personality that addiction can expose. She describes what drove her to addiction, what helped her recover, and her belief that a “cure” for addiction will not be found in our individual brains but in the way we interact with our communities. Set apart by its color, candor, and bell-clear writing, Never Enough is a revelatory look at the roles drugs play in all of our lives and offers crucial new insight into how we can solve the epidemic of abuse.


RECOVERY 2.0

RECOVERY 2.0

Author: Tommy Rosen

Publisher: Hay House, Inc

Published: 2014-10-21

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1401946860

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"The feeling was electric-energy humming through my body. I felt like blood was pouring into areas of my tissues that it had not been able to reach for some time. It was relieving and healing, subtler than the feeling from getting off on drugs, but it was detectable and lovely, and of course, there was no hangover, just a feeling of more ease than I could remember. I felt a warmth come over me similar to what I felt when I had done heroin, but far from the darkness of that insanity, this was pure light-a way through." - Tommy Rosen, on his first yoga experience Most of us deal with addiction in some form. While you may not be a fall-down drunk, anorexic, or a gambling addict, you likely struggle with addiction in other ways. Workaholism, overeating, and compulsively engaging with technology like video games, texting, and Facebook are also highly common examples. And if you don't suffer from addiction, chances are you know someone who does. Through more than 20 years of recovery and in working professionally with others, Tommy Rosen has uncovered core elements of recovery and healing, what he refers to as Recovery 2.0. In the book, he shares his own past struggles with addiction, and powerful, tested tools for breaking free from the obstacles that stand in the way of a holistic and lasting recovery. Building off the key tenets of the 12-Step program, he has developed an innovative approach that includes • Looking at the roots of addiction; your family history and "Addiction Story" • Daily breathing practices, meditation, yoga, and body awareness • A healthy, alkaline-based diet to aid with detox, boost immunity, increase vitality, support your entire recovery, and help prevent relapse • Discovering your mission, living on purpose, and being of service to others Recovery 2.0 will help readers not only release their addictions, but thrive in their recovery.


Internet Addiction Test (IAT)

Internet Addiction Test (IAT)

Author: Kimberly Young, Ph.D.

Publisher: Stoelting

Published: 2016-12-01

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 0998298093

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While the Internet is a relatively new technology, that has impacted the world, and provided many benefits, it has also had negative ramifications. Individuals unable to control their use are jeopardizing school, employment and relationships. The concept of “Internet Addiction” is used to explain uncontrollable, damaging use of technology. It is characterized as an impulse control disorder, comparable to pathological gambling, because of overlapping diagnostic criteria and symptomatology. Based on these studies, the IAT was constructed to capture the problematic behavior associated with compulsive use of technology, including online porn, internet gambling and compulsive use of online games and social media. The Internet Addiction Test emerged as the first validated measure of Internet and technology addiction. The assessments can be administered in a variety of mental health settings, including private practice clinics, schools, hospitals and residential programs. They can be used when there is suspicion of Internet addiction, as part of a broad intake assessment, or for use in a wellness curriculum to help participants evaluate their own Internet behavior. The IAT can also be a valuable pre-employment screening device, to detect internet addiction among job candidates, to improve productivity and reduce corporate liability. Based on 20 self-report items, the IAT assesses for the presence of addiction to the Internet, electronic entertainment, social media, and general use of electronic devices, and also measures the severity of addiction, in terms of mild, moderate or severe. Furthermore, because Internet addiction may be driven by different reasons and manifest in different ways, requiring different types of treatment, the IAT produces scores related to the following areas: EscapeCompulsionNeglecting dutiesAnticipationLack of ControlSocial Avoidance


The Age of Addiction

The Age of Addiction

Author: David T. Courtwright

Publisher: Belknap Press

Published: 2019-05-06

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674737377

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“A mind-blowing tour de force that unwraps the myriad objects of addiction that surround us...Intelligent, incisive, and sometimes grimly entertaining.” —Rod Phillips, author of Alcohol: A History “A fascinating history of corporate America’s efforts to shape our habits and desires.” —Vox We live in an age of addiction, from compulsive gaming and shopping to binge eating and opioid abuse. Sugar can be as habit-forming as cocaine, researchers tell us, and social media apps are deliberately hooking our kids. But what can we do to resist temptations that insidiously rewire our brains? A renowned expert on addiction, David Courtwright reveals how global enterprises have both created and catered to our addictions. The Age of Addiction chronicles the triumph of what he calls “limbic capitalism,” the growing network of competitive businesses targeting the brain pathways responsible for feeling, motivation, and long-term memory. “Compulsively readable...In crisp and playful prose and with plenty of needed humor, Courtwright has written a fascinating history of what we like and why we like it, from the first taste of beer in the ancient Middle East to opioids in West Virginia.” —American Conservative “A sweeping, ambitious account of the evolution of addiction...This bold, thought-provoking synthesis will appeal to fans of ‘big history’ in the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel.” —Publishers Weekly


Chasing the Scream

Chasing the Scream

Author: Johann Hari

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2015-01-20

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1620408929

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The New York Times Bestseller What if everything you think you know about addiction is wrong? Johann Hari's journey into the heart of the war on drugs led him to ask this question--and to write the book that gave rise to his viral TED talk, viewed more than 62 million times, and inspired the feature film The United States vs. Billie Holiday and the documentary series The Fix. One of Johann Hari's earliest memories is of trying to wake up one of his relatives and not being able to. As he grew older, he realized he had addiction in his family. Confused, not knowing what to do, he set out and traveled over 30,000 miles over three years to discover what really causes addiction--and what really solves it. He uncovered a range of remarkable human stories--of how the war on drugs began with Billie Holiday, the great jazz singer, being stalked and killed by a racist policeman; of the scientist who discovered the surprising key to addiction; and of the countries that ended their own war on drugs--with extraordinary results. Chasing the Scream is the story of a life-changing journey that transformed the addiction debate internationally--and showed the world that the opposite of addiction is connection.


Recovery

Recovery

Author: Russell Brand

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1250141931

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A guide to all kinds of addiction from a star who has struggled with heroin, alcohol, sex, fame, food and eBay, that will help addicts and their loved ones make the first steps into recovery “This manual for self-realization comes not from a mountain but from the mud...My qualification is not that I am better than you but I am worse.” —Russell Brand With a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction—from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not “Why are you addicted?” but "What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running—into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person’s arms?" Russell has been in all the twelve-step fellowships going, he’s started his own men’s group, he’s a therapy regular and a practiced yogi—and while he’s worked on this material as part of his comedy and previous bestsellers, he’s never before shared the tools that really took him out of it, that keep him clean and clear. Here he provides not only a recovery plan, but an attempt to make sense of the ailing world.