Almost Alcoholic: Is My (or My Loved One's) Drinking a Problem? (The Almost Effect) [Paperback]

Ph.D. Joseph Nowinski PhD (Author), M.D. Robert Doyle MD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2012 | Series: The Almost Effect

Determine if your drinking is a problem, develop strategies for curbing your intake, and measure your progress with this practical guide to taking care of yourself.

Every day, millions of people drink a beer or two while watching a game, shake a cocktail at a party with friends, or enjoy a glass of wine with a good meal. For more than 30 percent of these drinkers, alcohol has begun to have a negative impact on their everyday lives. Yet, only a small number are true alcoholics—people who have completely lost control over their drinking and who need alcohol to function. The great majority are what Dr. Doyle and Dr. Nowinski call "Almost Alcoholics," a growing number of people whose excessive drinking contributes to a variety of problems in their lives.

In Almost Alcoholic, Dr. Doyle and Dr. Nowinski give the facts and guidance needed to address this often unrecognized and devastating condition. They provide the tools to:

identify and assess your patterns of alcohol use;
evaluate its impact on your relationships, work, and personal well-being;
develop strategies and goals for changing the amount and frequency of alcohol use;
measure the results of applying these strategies; and
make informed decisions about your next steps.

The Almost Effect™ Series presents books written by Harvard Medical School faculty and other experts who offer guidance on common behavioral and physical problems falling in the spectrum between normal health and a full-blown medical condition. These are the first publications to help general readers recognize and address these problems.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The stories in Almost Alcoholic are so powerful. I just loved this book!”
—Jeanne Segal, PhD, psychologist and founder of HelpGuide.org


"Insightful and self-reflective, Almost Alcoholic provides readers with an important opportunity to look within and consider the nature of their own relationship with alcohol."
—Ryan M. Travia, M.Ed., Harvard University Health Services


"A stunning achievement. Almost Alcoholic shines light on behavior that has thus far largely escaped scrutiny—namely drinking that is definitely causing problems even though it doesn’t rise to a diagnostic level—and not only helps individuals understand the costs of their drinking but goes further, offering practical advice and solutions for those so afflicted."
—J.Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD
Staff Psychiatrist, Cambridge Health Alliance and Children's Hospital Boston
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School


“The Almost Effect Series of books captures the fundamentally hum experiences and helps readers interpret what the symptoms might mean—both for themselves and others. The Almost Effect collection should be required reading for those interested in psychology and human behavior.”
—Howard J. Shaffer, PhD,
Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School,
Director of the Division on Addiction at the Cambridge Health Alliance
Co-author; Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life

About the Author

A nationally recognized expert on alcoholism, Robert Doyle, MD, is a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is on the medical staff at Harvard’s prestigious teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Clinical psychologist Joseph Nowinski, PhD, was assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of California–San Francisco and associate adjunct professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut. He is currently a columnist for the Huffington Post and works in private practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Hazelden (March 27, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616491590
• ISBN-13: 978-1616491598
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rob Doyle, MD, DDS is a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is on the medical staff at Harvard's prestigious teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Doyle is also on the staff at Harvard University Health Services, where he counsels hundreds of Harvard students each year on alcohol-related problems, depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other issues. He is also a consultant psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, one of the most respected mental health facilities in the United States and a Harvard teaching hospital.

Dr. Doyle is certified in both adult and child/adolescent psychiatry with a special interest in alcohol/substance abuse, ADHD, autism, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, obesity, mind/body medicine, international medicine, and psychopharmacology. In the field of alcohol abuse/dependence, he received the Sciafe Foundation Scholarship, which allowed him to complete a fellowship in alcohol and substance abuse treatment at the world-renowned Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, California. He has also frequently attended meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) as part of his training and during his clinical practice to gain insight into the problems of alcohol abuse/dependence. These experiences led him to the idea of intervening before people have reached the AA stage, and to this breakthrough concept: Almost Alcoholic -- From Recognition to Resolution.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Toolkit for catching yourself before you fall March 26, 2012

By Amy Eden

Format:Paperback

This book is for those who are worried that they may be becoming alcoholic. It's an easy-to-follow tool kit that could likely turn-around lives...if allowed to. (Why wait till you're at the bottom of the hole to dig out?) This book offers a hopeful alternate detour away from a personal landslide. In addition to potential alcoholics, the book is for people who are concerned that someone they care about may be on the path to possibly becoming an alcoholic.

The book sheds light on common perplexing questions: "How many drinks a night are too many?" Or, "What if I never drink alone, can I be alcoholic?" Or, "He came home drunk last night, and doesn't remember a thing. Should I worry?" Usually, it's the other person wondering this, not the problem drinker (if only one could be just a tad more self-aware while developing a drinking problem.)

A hidden benefit to this book is that it may help un-diagnose someone who's worried they are becoming an alcoholic, but aren't. There are so many self-investigation jumping-off points in this book, that anyone will be hard pressed to finish it without discovering that another substance, or activity, plays a role in one's life much like alcohol does for the almost alcoholic (like sugary treats).

Part 1 focuses on explaining what an "almost alcoholic" is, with chapters called:

What is Almost Alcoholic?
Becoming an Almost Alcoholic
Your Relationship with Alcohol
Making the Decision to Change

These chapters cover concepts like drinking to relieve stress, drinking alone, and the looking forward to a drink/drinking as indicators of being in the midst of developing a problem with alcohol. They contain illustrative stories of people (made-up and/or real composites of clients) that bring the ideas of the chapters to life, showing how issues with alcohol can play out in relationships. For example: Betsy drinks out of sheer loneliness after her sons move away and her husband dies. Another example: Ann drank with her husband to "decompress" after work and had extra drinks after their kids went to bed; then she began having a hard time sleeping, got deeply fatigued and lost interest in sex. Those are just two examples; throughout the book there are likely enough for almost everyone to relate to.

Part 2, which is twice as long, focuses on solutions, which chapters called:

Looking at the Man (or Woman) in the Mirror
Building a Support System
Changing Routines
Developing Refusal Skills
Coping with Loneliness and Boredom
Dealing with Anger
Resentment
Stress
Overcoming Shame and Guilt
When Self-Help Isn't Enough: Other Drugs and Other Disorders
Is Abstinence the Better Choice?

Kudos to these guys for offering practicalities, for focusing on how to get the heck off the dismal, almost alcoholic path; so often books like this (that diagnose) focus on the diagnosis, then tack on a couple practical chapters about how to help yourself, but never enough. I admire the authors for giving such focus to what their readers would need most: tools.

I have two criticisms of this book. One aspect that was problematic for me (and quite possibly will not bug others) was the unending use of the phrase "almost alcoholic" throughout the book, which I found distracting and overbearing. It seemed to be used so often throughout each chapter that I found it practically becomes a diagnostic convention--a slippery slope in the domain of un-diagnosable, `potential' alcoholism. Since "almost alcoholic" isn't a diagnosis, I'd have preferred it if instead a variety of words, terms, and phrases had been used throughout the book rather than something so branding. My second criticism is that in many instances the case examples (Sally, Ann, Jamal, etc.) dominated chapters and I would have liked more balance between client stories and direct advice and explanations given from the authors to their readers.

Full disclosure: the publisher sent me an advance copy of this book. I do plan to recommend it to people who are questioning their use of alcohol or who are concerned about a loved one. The book shares important truths about human behavior, and is a worthwhile tool for self-evaluation. The concept that someone can be "almost" alcoholic is certainly fascinating.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is right on target! March 27, 2012

By Alex

Format:Kindle Edition

Finally! Someone addresses the nuances (gray areas) of this issue from a contemporary view - the issue is not black and white and the language here is clear and insightful. Totally frank but doesn't shy from the intricacies --this is a great read - I'm engrossed and only just got it. If it seems like it might be helpful to you, it will be ; practical, hopeful and compelling.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A helful reframe for changing your drinking patterns August 25, 2012

By Jeanine M. Swenson

Format:Paperback

How many times have you heard someone proclaim, "well at least I'm not an alcoholic!" While many will have definite ideas about what consitutes problem or addictive drinking, this is the first book that I have come across that breaks down the continuum of behavior from social drinker to out-of-control dependancy in a thoughtful, helpful and introspective way. It asks some probing and difficult introductory questions like, "what is my relationship to alcohol and drinking" or "do I use alcohol to soothe uncomfortable feelings like loneliness, worry or hurt." But what I really like about this book, is that the assessment section is concise and takes up only about the first third of the narrative while the solutions sections make up the core of the book. After discussing five key signs that may indicate problems, the authors then embark on a thorough dissection of things that are keeping patterns stuck. These solutions are varied and creative and definitely stay away from a one-size-fits-all recipe for reducing alcohol consumption or not worrying about it if it is not a problem for you.

So thoroughly has drinking and alcohol become part of our adult culture, that we may not necessarily see what a sneaky poison it can be in our lives and relationships. And once it enters a family system, it may be very hard to get it out. This book helps the interested reader to evaluate patterns of behaviors and make changes proactively, if necessary. The writing is also gentle and nonblaming around some issues that may be quite sensitive and difficult. Thank you, Drs. Doyle and Nowinski, for expanding these important internal and external conversations around drinking in a way that will hopefully have lasting impact.