Customer Reviews

Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a psychyology major in college specializing in addiction, as well as overcoming my own personal addictions, I found Twerski's book was excellent. I bought it simply as a text book supplement for a college course, and ended up reading it a few times. He gives a great insight into the mind of the addict, and nice overview of life AFTER addiction and the logical, spiritual, and emotional hurdles forever in front of the affected individual and those around him. I read this just after my third year of abstinence and pulled so much from it in my personal life. Whether you are an addict or just know or have been affected by one, have been through the twelve-step meetings or struggled alone, give it a try. It still sits in my library and is a book I often recommend to those I meet and are dealing with an aspect of addiciton, treatment, and sobriety.

Finally, in plain English, this book explains how the addict thinks and why he treats himself and others the way he does. It doesn't solve the problem, but it does offer comfort in knowing that you are not to blame. I only wish the book went one step farther in offering some advice as to how to deal sanely with addictive behavior, how to react and perhaps what to expect when you do react. Overall, well worth reading.

I purchased this book in hopes of understanding why the addict does what he or she does. I work with many HIV/AIDS patients, and many of them are addicts. This book was amazing not only to me but to most of the colleagues who have been around this behavior many years. We were actually fighting over this book after everyone was taking about. It was very easy, quick reading, and very clearly stated. I just can't say enough about it. If you read it I can assure you that you will want to share the information and stories you read. Currently my copy is MIA so I am buying another few copies.

A very good book with the basics on addiction. I especially enjoyed the chapter on spirituality and the addict, although I would have liked to have seen a little more on this subject.

Twerski's book "The Spiritual Self" has what I was looking for and much more. I think it is a must read for ANYONE on the road to recovery. He explains how the role of the human spirit is essential in the addict's new life and how one does not even need to be religious (although it certainly helps!).

This book describes explicitly how an addicts mind works! It is an excellent book for those trying to understand someone with addictive issues.

I've read a lot of books about addiction, but "Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception" by Abraham J. Twerski is the only one that describes me to a tee. Addicts are malfunctioning human beings whose thinking and concept of reality are severely distorted. Addictive diseases resemble schizophrenia in many ways. The addict may suffer from delusions, hallucinations, inappropriate moods, and abnormal behavior. I one point in my addiction, I thought that I was schizophrenic. I knew that something was horribly wrong with me, but it couldn't have anything to do with the massive amounts of drugs I was ingesting.

According to Twerski, addicts have a distorted self-image and they all have extremely low self-esteem. Even though they may have many life-accomplishments and every reason to think highly of themselves, they still feel inferior. Addicts are also hypersensitive. They are emotionally sensitive to their environment the way a sunburn victim is sensitive to touch. Drugs and alcohol offer immense relief from this hypersensitivity, numbing the emotions that bring such discomfort.

Twerski has also given me a better understanding of what is really happening when an addict reaches "rock bottom." Rock bottom is not necessarily an event, but a change of perception where sobriety is finally seen as more rewarding than continued use. This explains why I continued to use after my rock bottom experience. It took a while for my perceptions to change.

Another new revelation for me was that many recovering addicts relapse because they mistakenly believe that life will be rosy once they've recovered. But life is a succession of peaks and valleys, a series of hurdles to overcome. I held this false belief until I read this. I'm guilty of thinking that my peace of mind is the most important thing I've got. But recovery is not about gaining peace of mind. It's about learning how to deal with those situations which threaten this peace. It's about living life on life's terms.

"Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception" is an in-depth explanation of what transpires in the mind of the addict. There is also a chapter that thoroughly explains co-dependency, so this book is a must-read for the family members of addicts also.

David Allan Reeves

Author of "Running Away From Me"

I picked this book up off my colleague's desk in the counseling office, realized I shouldn't take it without asking permission, and made my amends right away. With permission, then, I read with some shame, and also guilt, about self-deception. The crux: distorted thinking is not just manufactured for others, but something that inhabits the inner person. As a result, we can see it, explore it, recognize it in others, and still struggle to make lasting changes in our own thinking.

Twerski writes after 18 years running a clinic, and he has lots of the simple examples and plain talk that cut through the haze. He is a fan of AA's 12 steps and he believes low self-esteem haunts many an addicts' inner child. He has a website with a recent 40 minute reflection on his own struggle with self-esteem. He's now almost 80.

As some other reviewers note, after the first couple chapters introducing and defining the distorted thinking he calls "addictive thinking," the chapters get short, like meditations, and topical, covering aspects such as distorted time, reason, and perspective, hypersensitivity, shame versus guilt, and admitting error. I think the point we could make is that this book seeks to identify and describe the distorted thinking common in chemical dependents. Believe me, I don't have to be chemically dependent to see myself in these vignettes and struggles.

The reason for such a book is that we all need to pierce our own isolation and denial about our self-deception. Let me put it this way. If I don't deceive myself too much, it should be easier for me to admit that. If I deceive myself a lot, I just might find a way to distance myself from a book like this, maybe by putting myself above it or pointing it at someone else. Did I mention there is a short chapter on denial, rationalization, and projection?

Enough said. If you're interested in self-deception, distorted thinking, and how it plays into addictions, I think you'll like this fast read from an old school Rabbi, psychiatrist, and addictions counselor.

I read this book, making notations every night before bed for about a week. Since, and during this read, I'm in the process of being able to recognize my own addict-voice, (key in recovery!) who's purpose is to binge. I am extremely grateful for having picked this up, I struggle with addiction, and this has given me another tool to stay on track, there's TONS of good information within this slim and easy to read book!

Thank you to Abraham J. Twerski!!!

I read alot of books on addiction after a personal nightmare dealing with an addict- and this one of all of them was the most helpful in explaining an addict's thinking process. Many of us dealing with an addicted loved one feel lost and confused by their behavior. This book was so illuminating I've passed it on and on. Read this if nothing else.

I was assigned this book for my Biopsychosocial aspects of addictions course in grad school for counseling. This is definitely a book I will not be selling back. It is extremely reader-friendly and offers great insight into the way addicts think. Twerski does a fabulous job of explaining addictive behavior and cognitive processes as well as explaining codependency. Whether you're in school and studying addictions, just curious about the topic, or have an addict in your life, I strongly recommend reading this book.