Customer Reviews

Concepts of Chemical Dependency

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book gives a solid overview of chemicals of use/abuse, focusing particularly upon alcohol. The one caveat I have about recommending it unconditionally is that the author seems to interweave his bias along with the factual material, such that it is sometimes hard to tease out the actual facts from the propaganda. But the book is user-friendly and, if someone is wanting to get an overall sense of various substances of use/abuse and their effects, this book certainly has much to offer.

I bought this textbook as a required text for an addiction program planning course. The author implements his opinion throughout the book. The chaters tend to be long, and concepts are reiterated without clarity. I would have liked more detail on the biochemistry of drug transformation. I do appreciate the correlation the author makes consistently regarding prescription drugs and the potential for addiction especially for individuals in recovery.

As a Licensed Addiction Counselor looking through this book, I was shocked at how inaccurate or misleading some of the information is. I cannot believe that these inaccuracies made it through the editing process and were published; and are being taught to College Students. The college in my town uses this in an undergraduate glass. There are a number of outdated sources. There is information within sections that contradicts what was previously written. I was focused mostly on the Chapters 27-35, due to being requested as a speaker in the class that uses this text. I particularly disagreed with much in the Evaluation Section. The most glaring inaccuracy that I noticed is the DSM-IV TR Criteria. There are 7 specific criteria for a diagnosis of Substance Dependency; and there are 4 criteria for a diagnosis of Substance Abuse. They did not differentiate Dependence versus Abuse. The chapter also made is sound like it was an option for diagnosis; however it is a requirement to have a diagnosis from the DSM-IV TR.
The ASAM information in here is minimal and inaccurate as well.
If I were the professor of a Chemical Dependency class I would not use this text. It does not seem that the person actually writing the book as any clinical experience working within the Addiction Field.

I ordered this book for a psychology course. The seller under promised and over delivered. Thank you! The book is in EXCELLENT SHAPE! You cant even tell it's ever been read before and I purchased it used. Also, this is a great book in general. In reading it I enjoy the short chapters that are very streightforward and easy to understand. It really put more than just drugs and behavior into perspective for me. It tells you about the basic way bain chemistry is modified when substances are used. This explains ALOT about more that just street drugs, it can also be applied to any substance you put in your body. Great buy! Very clearly written.

As a counseling student I found this book to be very helpful and informative. Some of the medical material can be a bit dense but it is still very helpful. I think there could be more information about treatments and case conceptualization but that also has to come from the instructor. Over all a very good book and something I will be hanging on to and likely refering to.

This is an excellent book very detailed to what and how to do an Assessment and recomend Treatment for an Drug abuser.

Great book for my class. have learned a lot about chemical dependency.
check it out if your class requires it too

Good information, especially for someone who has limited knowledge regarding chemical dependency. However, considering it is a textbook, it too opinionated for my taste. I perfer textbooks that are neutral and stick e ntirely to the facts.

My daughter, who is a nurse, is going to night college to get her BA Degree. She needed a text book and didn't have enough for it so mom to the rescue. I found Concepts of Chemical Dependency by Harold E. Doweiko on Amazon at a very reasonable price for a soft cover book and she was ecstatic so thank you Amazon.com for putting this book on your site. She was pleased and so was I.

I was happy to receive the book as promised. It was in the condition that was stated in the ad. Thank you for helping a student.