by Thomas F. Harrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2018
A valuable guide to recovery for substance abusers and their loved ones.
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A debut manual focuses on the survivors of addiction as well as family members and friends who cope with the effects.
This well-organized book sets itself apart from others in its genre by not only examining the science behind addiction, but also the emotional aspects and strategies to overcome the condition. Harrison begins by breaking down misconceptions about substance abuse—specifically those that demonize or blame the afflicted—and exploring the adverse effects on the user’s brain and body. For example, the author explains in Part I that an addiction cannot be identified based solely on the amount of a substance a person uses or the frequency of the behavior. This section distinguishes between heavy recreational drug and alcohol users and addicts, who suffer a loss of control and a hijacking of the brain’s reward center. The author dissects the biological process of addiction, pointing out the way dopamine “flooding” can affect a person’s free will. Though the science is complex, Harrison describes it clearly and simply, making this title a worthy one for families hoping to better understand their addicted loved ones. In addition, the author meticulously depicts the way that substance abuse can intersect with other types of addictive behaviors, like gambling, eating, and sex, because an afflicted person is attempting to feed the brain’s reward system and compensate for a lack of dopamine. Part II of the book effectively delves into the emotional experiences of the addict’s family, exploring in depth denial, codependency, and enabling. These behaviors occur when family members are not cognizant of the problem or don’t know how to help. Harrison presents numerous strategies to allow relatives to break through the tensions of addiction and begin to work together to beat it. For example, the author emphasizes the importance of positive communication and reinforcement rather than criticism or punishment, tactics that can turn addicts away from their families and back to drugs or alcohol. Harrison also explains rehab: what it entails, the costs, and how it supports recovery. For family members seeking psychotherapeutic approaches, the author details different forms of behavioral therapy and how they have aided substance abusers. Overall, this book is comprehensive, lucid, and useful for readers hoping to help addicts or learn more about their condition.
A valuable guide to recovery for substance abusers and their loved ones.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9991215-0-4
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Regalade Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Charlayne Hunter-Gault ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992
From the national correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour: a moving memoir of her youth in the Deep South and her role in desegregating the Univ. of Georgia. The eldest daughter of an army chaplain, Hunter-Gault was born in what she calls the ``first of many places that I would call `my place' ''—the small village of Due West, tucked away in a remote little corner of South Carolina. While her father served in Korea, Hunter-Gault and her mother moved first to Covington, Georgia, and then to Atlanta. In ``L.A.'' (lovely Atlanta), surrounded by her loving family and a close-knit black community, the author enjoyed a happy childhood participating in activities at church and at school, where her intellectual and leadership abilities soon were noticed by both faculty and peers. In high school, Hunter-Gault found herself studying the ``comic-strip character Brenda Starr as I might have studied a journalism textbook, had there been one.'' Determined to be a journalist, she applied to several colleges—all outside of Georgia, for ``to discourage the possibility that a black student would even think of applying to one of those white schools, the state provided money for black students'' to study out of state. Accepted at Michigan's Wayne State, the author was encouraged by local civil-rights leaders to apply, along with another classmate, to the Univ. of Georgia as well. Her application became a test of changing racial attitudes, as well as of the growing strength of the civil-rights movement in the South, and Gault became a national figure as she braved an onslaught of hostilities and harassment to become the first black woman to attend the university. A remarkably generous, fair-minded account of overcoming some of the biggest, and most intractable, obstacles ever deployed by southern racists. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-17563-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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