From highflying Playboy editor to pathetic homeless alcoholic addict, Dystopia charts James Siddall's Icarian fall from grace. It's the sobering tell-all tale of a young, successful, hubristic, hard-drinking journalist who in his meltdown becomes the scourge of pubs and shebeens around the country. Regularly found comatose, collapsed in a puddle of his own excesses, Siddall became a frequent patient in lock-down psychiatric wards. He finally confronted himself after being ordered by court to two years in rehab. Dystopia punches hard in the solar plexus and in a world awash with so-called misery memoirs and vic-lit (victim literature) provides a new take on addiction. But far from being a mere account of sordidness and degradation - or "war story" - it also peels away the misconceptions about this disease. Dystopia delves deeply into the myths and misinformation surrounding addiction, a condition that's been dubbed "the most democratic and painful of all diseases." Above all Dystopia is a story of triumph where a broken man finds his way home to become a functioning human being again and a working journalist. Written by the brilliant and award-winning James Siddall, this is the book James Frey could have produced if he told the whole truth.

Marc Lewis's relationship with drugs began in a New England boarding school where, as a bullied and homesick fifteen-year-old, he made brief escapes from reality by way of cough medicine, alcohol, and marijuana. In Berkeley, California, in its hippie heyday, he found methamphetamine and LSD and heroin he sniffed nitrous oxide in Malaysia and frequented Calcutta's opium dens. Ultimately, though, his journey took him where it takes most addicts: into a life of desperation, deception, and crime.But unlike most addicts, Lewis recovered to become a developmental psychologist and researcher in neuroscience. In Memoirs of an Addicted Brain , he applies his professional expertise to a study of his former self, using the story of his own journey through addiction to tell the universal story of addictions of every kind.

A mid-level drug trafficker and self-proclaimed low-life with a big vocabulary comes to terms with his actions and his mental health. Andrew Brobyn's relationship was in shambles before he took the terrible acid that sent him on an almost decade-long journey seeking redemption. His immediate plans following university were to liquidate his illicit assets, sell his client list, pack up shop, and retire to his parents' home in Toronto while he figured out what to do with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a quarter million in cash. As his drug use and bipolar disorder spiral, his situation gets stranger and stranger, taking him from his university campus to strip clubs, psych wards, and the slammer. Equal parts hilarious and terrifying, Babble On is a psycho-philosophical memoir that tracks Brobyn as he navigates the consequences of his eccentric choices and struggles with profound ambivalence toward his own health and well-being. A RARE MACHINES BOOK

Drug abuse, particularly opioid addiction, is more of a public health problem than ever before - so much so that in March 2018, the American College of Physicians will recommend that substance abuse disorders be treated as a chronic medical condition. They urge physicians to become more fa miliar with addiction, and as the epidemic rises, health professionals of all kinds are looking for alternative means of healing to treat those in need. With its powerful and spiritual view on recovery, One Breath at a Time is more relevant now than ever before. Since its initial publication in 2004, the book has sold steadily - it's netted more than 62,000 copies mainly through the author's promotion and busy events and workshop schedule. The revised edition will include a new conclusion by the author describing how the book has been a cornerstone of his teachings over the past years and a new foreword by a contributor. In One Breath at a Time, Griffin shares his own extraordinary journey to sobriety and how he integrated the Twelve Steps of recovery with Buddhist mindfulness practices. He examines each step and how it relates to Buddhist teachings and presents techniques for finding clarity and awareness. One Breath at a Time describes the convergence of two vital traditions - one ancient, the other contemporary - and shows how they work together to create a rich spiritual path.

When the Husband family realised that their son Paul was addicted to heroin, they did everything they could to help him but it seemed that every step in the right direction would be followed by another relapse as Paul lied to them, stole from them, and come close to losing his life. This illustrated title from award-winning cartoonist Tony Husband tells the tale of those dark days as they worked as a family to get Paul into the right sort of supportive environment where he could truly recover from his dangerous addiction, and move from that dark place to a brighter future. This inspiring and compelling story will appeal to anyone who has struggled with an addictive disorder, or any families or friends who have had to support someone through such a situation. Anyone who was touched by Tony's Take Care, Son - The Story of my Dad and His Dementia will be similarly moved and uplifted by From A Dark Place.

When Amy Liptrot returns to Orkney after more than a decade away, she is drawn back to the Outrun on the sheep farm where she grew up. Approaching the land that was once home, memories of her childhood merge with the recent events that have set her on this journey. Amy was shaped by the cycle of the seasons, birth and death on the farm, and her father's mental illness, which were as much a part of her childhood as the wild, carefree existence on Orkney. But as she grew up, she longed to leave this remote life. She moved to London and found herself in a hedonistic cycle. Unable to control her drinking, alcohol gradually took over. Now thirty, she finds herself washed up back home on Orkney, standing unstable at the cliff edge, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London. Spending early mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, the days tracking Orkney's wildlife-puffins nesting on sea stacks, arctic terns swooping close enough to feel their wings-and nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy slowly makes the journey toward recovery from addiction. The Outrun is a beautiful, inspiring book about living on the edge, about the pull between island and city, and about the ability of the sea, the land, the wind, and the moon to restore life and renew hope. A Guardian Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller New Statesman Book of the Year

This book is an innovative approach that teaches parents how to reconnect with the entire family and reclaim their parenting power. The programme is designed to help parents let go of the addicted family system and begin parenting with renewed strength and positive power. Krovitz-Neren's 5-Step Foundational Parenting Model is new to the addiction field and, unlike previous books, teaches parents a systematic approach to support their children in their successful long-term recovery. Unique in that it incorporates the perspectives, needs and desires of teenagers and young adults, providing fresh insight and helping parents understand what their child is experiencing in active addiction. By applying these simple strategies parents can expect to: * Bring about more presence and emotional availability to all members of the family. * Experience a deeper emotional connection with their children. * Enjoy clarified family values, rules and boundaries. * Have improved parenting skills that allow them to create greater joy within the family.

Had enough of repeatedly giving up booze only to keep returning to the old cycles? Want to end the anguish and give yourself the chance to be the best you can? Do you know that group healing won't work with you? Beat alcohol on your own is a new approach to combating drinking made even more necessary, right now, from its increase due to greater home working. The method ensures the reader's drinking will reduce towards zero in a personalised, safe, controlled way. Central is the strategy of Planned Relapses, which give a sturdy staff on which to lean as overall drinking is managed downwards through the following of three simple Oaken Rules. The realpolitik of the difficulties in stopping drinking is faced square on as every scenario where temptation may arise along the path is mitigated by the deployment of an arsenal of tactical interventions. Ultimately the goal - Mundus in claritate! - is attained.

In Drinking Up the Revolution, James Wilt shows us why alcohol policy should be at the heart of any socialist movement. Many people are drinking more now than ever before, as already massive multinationals are consolidating and new online delivery services are booming in an increasingly deregulated market. At the same time, public health experts are sounding the alarm about the catastrophic health and social impacts of rising alcohol use, with over three million people dying ever year due to alcohol-related harms. Exposing the links between the alcohol industry and capitalism, colonialism and environmental destruction, Wilt demonstrates the failure of both prohibition and deregulation, and instead focuses on those who profit from alcohol's sale and downplay its impacts: producers, retailers, and governments. Rejecting both the alcohol industry's moralizing against individual "problem drinkers" and the sober politics of "straight-edge" and wellness lifestyle trends, Drinking Up the Revolution is not another call for prohibition or more governmental control, but is instead a cry to take back alcohol for the people, and make it safe and enjoyable for all those who want to use it.

The virtually universal popularity of caffeine, together with concerns about its potential pathogenic effects, have made it one of the most extensively studied drugs in history. However, despite the massive scientific literature on this important substance, most reviews have either focused on limited areas of study or been produced in popular form by individuals with surprisingly little relevant scientific background. Caffeine and Activation Theory: Effects on Health and Behavior brings together the leading experts from seven different countries to provide researchers and clinicians with the most comprehensive and balanced review of the scientific literature on the effects of caffeine found anywhere. It devotes unprecedented coverage to the impact of caffeine on cardiovascular functioning and pathology, details the pharmacological properties and neurophysiological effects of the drug, and thoroughly reviews literature concerned with the role of this powerful stimulant in mood, task performance, and psychopathology. This important new book is also the first source to provide an integrative scientific treatment of the effects of caffeine consumption on menstrual endocrinology and pathology, as well as on reproduction. Rounding out the coverage is a thorough review of emerging research on the possible benefits of caffeine and catechins in green and black teas. The highly integrative final chapter provides a clear understanding of what is known about the effects of caffeine, identifies specific areas in which further research is needed, and provides important methodological guidelines that promise to optimize future research endeavors. Filling the need for a current comprehensive resource, this volume provides extensive reviews of the major bodies of literature on caffeine, stimulates and guides future research, and provides clinicians with the information they need to understand, diagnose, and treat the effects of caffeine consumption in their patients.