As a psychiatrist-in-training fresh from medical school, Carl Erik Fisher came face to face with his own addiction crisis, one that nearly cost him everything. Here, he investigates the history of this age-old condition. Humans have struggled to define, treat, and control addictive behaviour for most of recorded history, including well before the advent of modern science and medicine. The Urge is a rich, sweeping history that probes not only medicine and science but also literature, religion, philosophy, and sociology, illuminating the extent to which the story of addiction has persistently reflected broader questions of what it means to be human and care for one another. Fisher introduces us to the people who have endeavoured to address this complex condition through the ages: physicians and politicians, activists and artists, researchers and writers, and of course the legions of people who have struggled with their own addictions. He also examines the treatments and strategies that have produced hope and relief. The Urge is at once an eye-opening history of ideas, a riveting personal story of addiction and recovery, and a clinician's urgent call for a more expansive, nuanced, and compassionate view of one of society's most intractable challenges.

In this groundbreaking book, Matthieu Ricard makes a passionate case for happiness as a goal that deserves as least as much energy as any other in our lives. Wealth? Fitness? Career success? How can we possibly place these above true and lasting well-being? Drawing from works of fiction and poetry, Western philosophy, Buddhist beliefs, scientific research, and personal experience, Ricard weaves an inspirational and forward-looking account of how we can begin to rethink our realities in a fast-moving modern world. With its revelatory lessons and exercises, Happiness is an eloquent and stimulating guide to a happier life.

This book tells parents how to raise the thorny issue of drugs with their children and gives advice on ways to have this important conversation. It provides clear, up to date, accurate information about 'psychoactive' drugs and their effects, and contains many case studies and actual example conversations between parents and children.

Learn how to manage your alcohol use simply and effectively For many, drinking can be a pleasurable, acceptable and harmless social activity. However, if you regularly drink more than is sensible you may find that it impacts on your health, emotional wellbeing, relationships and your ability to work. There are many reasons why we drink and this self-help guide uses clinically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help you to work out your own reasons and to start taking control of your alcohol use: Understand what is sensible alcohol use Build the motivation to change your habits Tackle thoughts about drinking Manage setbacks

A controversial and persuasive analysis of addiction

A tour de force, a spectacular effort of research and understanding. This book gives us the courage to bypass disease notions to deal with intrapsychic, family system, and social and cultural dynamics in addiction.
?David Cook, Counseling and Psychological Services, University of Wisconsin

This compelling and controversial book challenges the widely accepted belief that alcohol and drug addiction have a genetic or biological basis. The so-called disease theory
suggests that a substance or activity can cause the addict to lose control of his behavior. Stanton Peele demonstrates how this notion fails to make sense of scientific observations.

Analyzing studies of drug and cigarette addiction, alcoholism, obesity, and other potential compulsions such as running and sex, Peele reveals the surprising frequency of self-cure as part of the evidence. The author finds that compulsive habits and depAndency are a way of coping that individuals can reverse as their life circumstances change. This brilliantly argued book is sure to provoke discussion and stimulate new approaches to treatment.

If you're thinking about going sober for Dry January or looking to make a long-term change, How to Go Alcohol Free is the easy guide to kicking the drink in 100 simple steps. Drinking is on the decline, with more and more people turning away from the bottle. The financial and wellbeing benefits of going alcohol free - from more financial stability to better sleep, relationships, skin and mental health - are undeniable. There has never been a better time to give sobriety a go. Whether you're a diehard drinker or a sometimes sipper, How to Go Alcohol Free is here to help you take control and change to a no-alcohol lifestyle. Helping you to understand your alcohol intake and its effects, and offering practical ways to take a break from booze, Kate Bee will help you plan for, switch to and enjoy a life beyond booze.

Alcoholics Anonymous has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. This special edition contains new, powerful, and inspiring personal stories for 2007.

Sister Mary Ignatia Gavin epitomized the spirit of love, service, and honesty that today are the hallmarks of Alcoholics Anonymous. As a hospital admissions officer in the 1930s in Akron, Ohio, Sr. Ignatia befriended Dr. Bob Smith, co-founder of AA, and courageously arranged for the hospitalization of alcoholics at a time when alcoholism was viewed as a character weakness rather than a disease.

Combating their distorted sense of time and space, anyone with addictions will find comfort in this hourly structure that nourishes them from the start of the day, through their working hours, and into the safety and peace of nighttime. Praying Throughout the Day uses the format of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours as a framework for people with addictions to pray their way through each day, hour by hour. Guided by Scripture and the saints, readers will become immersed in salvation history and empowered to move from one struggle to the next. This book combines the best wisdom of spiritual formation, i.e., regularity in prayer, with modern methods of addiction recovery, and will appeal to those with addictions of all kinds. In addition to those with addictions or in self-help programs, this book will be most useful to counselors, retreat directors, pastoral ministers, chaplains, and all healing professionals.

As a reformed smoker of nearly three decades, Christopher Chausse gives you his straightforward perspective on understanding the smoking habit, the tobacco industry, and the mystifying emotions that entangle the mind of a smoker. His jovial 'what's the worst that can happen approach will open your eyes to new alternatives and will have you knowing that you too can be smoke free if you desire. Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death describes the methodology, principles, and more importantly the attitude and mind-set of what it takes to become smoke free. Then through his simple Time Compartment Management (TCM) system you'll learn control; you'll learn how to convert subconscious habits into conscious choices; you'll also learn that time is your friend, not your enemy. Whether you've smoked for 5 years or 40; whether you smoke 1 pack a day or 3, with this approach you can break those nicotine shackles forever. By applying these simple time management principles to your life, you'll enable yourself to take back control of the time you spend smoking, then simply fill those vacant time slots with something beautiful.your freedom.

Hurt: Chronicles of the Drug War Generation weaves engaging first-person accounts of the lives of baby boomer drug users, including the author Miriam Boeri's own knowledge as the sister of a heroin addict. The compelling stories are set in historical context, from the cultural influence of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll to contemporary discourse that pegs drug addiction as a disease punished by incarceration. Boeri writes with penetrating insight and conscientious attention to the intersectionality of race, gender, and class as she analyzes the impact of an increasingly punitive War on Drugs on a hurting generation.

In the 1980's, Janet Woititz broke new ground in our understanding of what it is to be an Adult Child of an Alcoholic. In this updated edition of her bestseller she re-examines the movement and its inclusion of Adult Children from various dysfunctional family backgrounds who share the same characteristics. After decades of working with ACoAs she shares the recovery hints that she has found to work. Read Adult Children of Alcoholics to see where the journey began and for ideas on where to go from here.

In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments. Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments. Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God.