Addiction is Addiction

UNDERSTANDING THE DISEASE IN ONESELF AND OTHERS FOR A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE

by Raju Hajela Paige Abbott Sue Newton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2015

Three health care professionals present an approach to treating addiction as a disease having both physical and psychological components.

In this debut health book, Hajela, Newton, and Abbott address the challenges of addiction from a holistic medical and social perspective. The book opens with an explanation of addiction—which the authors capitalize throughout, part of their effort to mitigate the stigma associated with the word—as a condition that impairs the functions of the brain. They address the physical and behavioral symptoms associated with it, using pathology as a framework for understanding and treating addiction. Without blaming the patient for developing the condition in the first place, the book attempts to acknowledge the role of personal responsibility in managing a condition often attributed to individual shortcomings. The authors address medical treatments that can be effective for some forms of addiction, like alcohol and opiates, as well as the role of psychotherapy in treating underlying psychological problems and combating the thought patterns that lead to addiction behaviors. While much of the book is aimed at people dealing with addiction, later chapters discuss the roles of friends and family and treatment providers, along with strategies each group can employ in supporting the patient. For the most part, the book advocates a balanced, reasonable approach to dealing with addiction in its many forms, drawing on research and standard practices developed by mainstream organizations. As a result, it is disconcerting when the text introduces energy healing as a component of treatment: “It is important to understand that when people are out of balance in any of the energy centres, or chakras, people run at either a higher or lower level of energy.” Although an appendix explains the concept of chakras in more detail, energy healing is not essential to the book’s mission, and skeptics will still find it a useful resource for developing an approach to treating both the mental and physical aspects of addiction and understanding it as a chronic disease.

Comprehensive approach to treating addiction as a condition affecting both mind and body.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-46-026644-1

Page Count: 312

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION