Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse [Hardcover]

Doug Thorburn (Author), G. Douglas Talbott (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001 | ISBN-10: 0967578833 | ISBN-13: 978-0967578835 | Edition: 1st

This is possibly the most comprehensive book on alcohol and other drug addiction ever written. It is the first to explain how to identify the problem in the earliest stages, before tragedy occurs. Most readers cannot put the book down; they depict it as a ¡§page turner,¡¨ a description rarely used in regards to non-fiction work. You will discover:

(1) Alcoholism is a biological disorder, based in ancestry. It¡¦s inception has nothing to do with one¡¦s environment, circumstances or psychological type. These determine instead, the form that addiction takes.
(2) Why the addict is incapable of self-diagnosis. AA¡¦s ¡§20 questions¡¨ for the addict are converted to 60+ questions for the observer/close person. These questions are largely behavioral.
(3) Because no one can predict when or how destructive the behavior of a practicing addict may become, others need to disengage at the earliest possible moment. How to do so.
(4) Addiction mimics virtually all the Personality Disorders and mental illnesses. Most diagnosed with these problems are, in fact, addicts.
(5) Why pain from consequences is the only means by which to set the stage for intervention. The missing link in intervention.
(6) Via numerous stories, that close persons are in a far better position to identify the problem than are therapists and doctors.
(7) How to protect oneself, personally and professionally, from the financial and other problems that relationships with addicts create.
(8) How the media misinforms keeping the public ignorant about addiction. Numerous news reports and movies are described. The greatest movies about alcoholism have rarely been identified as such.
(9) The role of Psychological Type and Temperament in identifying and treating addiction.
(10) How to recover from the ordeal of having been negatively affected by a alcohol or other drug addict.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...valuable reference with useful suggestions and tools that could make a big difference in lives affected by another’s addiction. -- Counselor - The Magazine for Addiction Professionals - Review by Lindsay E. Freese, MEd, MAC, LADC

From the Publisher

The author wishes to acknowledge the most important (but by no means all) of the authors whose shoulders on which he has stood. The most important of these include James Graham (The Secret History of Alcoholism), James Milam and Katherine Ketcham (Under the Influence), Terence Gorski (numerous works), Vernon Johnson (I¡¦ll Quit Tomorrow), David Keirsey (Please Understand Me), Eve Delunas (Survival Games Personalities Play), and David Parker and Ralph Stacey (Chaos, Management and Economics: The Implications of Non-Linear Thinking). He would also like to publicly thank Jeff Bezos for having founded Amazon.com. Without this vast resource for research, this book would have been far less complete.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Galt Pub; 1st edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967578833
• ISBN-13: 978-0967578835
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a tax (Enrolled Agent) and financial (Certified Financial Planner-licensee) professional who became involved with an alcohol and other-drug addict in the early '90s. I barely survived the ordeal. Vowing "never again," I decided to learn everything possible about addiction. What I discovered was fascinating, empowering and designed to protect more than just me (alcoholism causes misbehaviors and if we observe such poor behaviors, there is likely addiction). Over the years, my role has evolved to addiction "researcher" who serves as a bridge for information about addiction between the few who "get it" and the mass of people who've never been introduced to the ideas.

You can find the results of my research in my books and online addiction report. The latest, "Alcoholism Myths and Realities," debunks the myths of addiction and eliminates the stigma of alcohol and other-drug addiction. Eliminate that stigma and we are far more likely to identify the disease when it threatens our health and safety, which is what my third book, "How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics," is all about (it uses behavioral clues to identify addiction in the early stages of the disease). My second book, "Get Out of the Way!" helps drivers spot likely DUIs before they become tragically obvious (you'll never again look at the road the same way). My first book, many readers of which think is my most important, is "Drunks, Drugs & Debits," and while focusing on identifying addicts in the hope of avoiding financial abuse, is actually a comprehensive look at addiction designed to give a "gut feel" for the disease. Read it cover to cover and you'll never again knowingly enable a practicing addict.

I'm very proud that a google search of "early-stage alcoholism" generally lists me in the top two or three positions, which shows how few are focusing on this overlooked stage of addiction, when the addict is most destructive of others.

For those who know personality type, I'm a scientifically-minded INTJ married to Marty, an inventive ENTP. We live in Northridge, California with our three cats, Tuxeda, Whiskers and Marmalade.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An education on the far-reaching effects of alcoholism, June 5, 2004

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse (Hardcover)

Alcoholism and drug addiction are part of one of the biggest problems of our society. According to author Doug Thorburn alcoholics alone are estimated to be between seven and fifteen percent of all adults. If this isn't a big enough problem by itself each alcoholic also adversely affects three or four other people. Because of their problem they often bring financial and emotional ruin not only to their self but also to the ones they love, and who love them, the most. Recognizing this problem and intervening early is what the book "Drunks, Drugs & Debits" is all about.

By far alcoholism is the predominant focus of the book but most of the information also applies to drug addicts. The author does a good job of presenting the information from a neutral and factual perspective as he examines alcoholism, factors that tend to exacerbate it and why some people seem to be more prone to it than others. One of the best chapters deals with recognizing the addict and why it is hard to identify them when you know them personally.

Of course, the debits part of the book is about how addiction often results in financial abuse of others; including friends, spouse, parents, partners, children.

Doug even includes a section on recovery for the non-addict who is trying to move forward in life and relationships. "Drunks, Drugs & Debits" is recommended if you have an addict in your life, think you may have one, or are one of the many people affected by one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars View from the other side., January 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse (Hardcover)

Many many books have been written about addiction, alcoholism, the causes, the treatment, and the theory. This is the first book that looks at the fallout and the consequences of the disease as it pertains to those that are put in contact with the drunk or addict. It then goes on to tell the innocent how to protect themselves from the storm especially financial, that surrounds an addicted life. I am one of those whom the the author so vividly describes. I am a recovered alcoholic with 28 years of sobriety in AA. It was only after years and years of being hurt, lied to, financially abused, and mistreated by my self centered addiction to alcohol that the loved ones in my life did finally take action to protect themselves from the insanity of my behavior and take measures to protect themselves. If they had been able to read this book, I am sure they would not have taken so long. To this day, I am filled with gratitude toward those loved ones who said to me "It's over, stay away from us and do something about your problem." These were the people that eventually saved my life even though they may never really know that. However, this book is not about saving the addict/alcoholic even though it may. It is about saving the victims and lessening the incredible losses financially and emotionally that this disease inflicts on the lives of the survivors that have addicts and alcoholics in their lives. It is the only book I have ever read that was written for this forgotten segment of our society. READ IT AND PROTECT YOURSELF! The effects of alcoholism and drug abuse which are the same diseases in my opinion, upon the lives of the innocent or non addict is clearly shown by the author. What is more important is his very practical approach to describing clear ways based on his own experience to avoid financial and emotional disaster. He first educates you with the disease, the telltale things to look for, then what to do to protect yourself from the insidious lies and elaborate charade practiced by every addict or alcoholic to preserve his insatiable drive to use and drink. Good Job.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An innovated approach to alchoholism, May 10, 2001

By 

charlesmorrison (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse (Hardcover)

Things I enjoyed about this book:

- how much new first-hand thought went into it -- you're not necessarily staying within the AA paradigm.

- I like how many outside resources are brought in. I have read *dozens* of books on Alcoholism and spoken with about 50 professionals in the field, and I have never heard of most of works you bring in. There is a staleness and paralysis to most of the thinking about alcoholism.

- Type Theory. Why haven't people who have worked in the field of substance abuse thought of the idea that if a person is a certain type, an artist for example, then it would help his recovery if you encourage him to do something that he might like rather than send him to Boeing corporation, for example, and make him do accounting? I have visited a couple of rehabilitation facilities, most notably Schick Shadel up here in Seattle (which specializes in the "aversion" method) and they are extremely depressing places. Not just because they are filled with addicts -- but the institutionalized feel of the places gives me the creeps. If I was not an alcoholic before I went into such a place, I might become one just from going there. And the idea in these places seems to be sometimes that if you don't want to do accounting then you're in denial and you're resisting, not following the 12 steps, etc. These places are so institutionalized, and staffed by some of the toughest, gravelly-voiced, nicotine addicted people -- I couldn't stop thinking of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

- p. 151 discussion of how therapists get confused when trying to work with alcoholics. I have heard this before, but your discussion was clarifying.

p. 179-180 "Enabling as a Property rights issue." That is a very rich idea. and the air and everything else. I have been pondering just how is it that the alcoholic manages to get away with so much? How is it that he causes so much damage to the lives of people around him? And why is it so difficult to put a stop to the drinking and the damage? Where are the causes of alcoholism? There seems to be a multiplicity of causes, and it is so easy to blame the parents, yet they aren't exactly the cause, as they are quick to point out "we gave her a good home." The cause seems everywhere and no where. . . *That* is exactly like pollution. It sounds especially like big businessmen used to sound back in the 60's -- being totally unaware, totally oblivious to the damage they were causing, and society in a way agreeing with them. "What do you mean I pollute? Do you know all the jobs I provide? Why sure I pollute a little, but the whole town would collapse economically if it weren't for me."

Alcoholism does seem like a "pollution" of sorts. Everybody in the situation seems to be littering and letting their septic tanks leak a little and then saying "It's not my fault the lake is polluted." Yet everybody's little slips result in a gigantic nightmare. That is what alcoholism seems to be "spiritual leaks and deprivations of various sorts and nobody seeing that these add up to a person who doesn't have a clue about who they really are or have a connection to anything bigger than their own ego. Also on p. 187 you talk about "spreading the pain of the consequences" that is a great idea too which ties in and explains how the addict gets away with it -- how he gets away with it in his own mind.

- p. 60-61 discussion of codependency. The non-addicted person appearing crazier. I think that is correct.

- how much alcohol is linked into crimes.

- p. 170 -178 The discussion of movies. That was entertaining, absorbing, eye opening and fascinating. I like the identification that some of these movies really are about alcoholism even if they don't explicitly state it.

p. 224 Money as an enabler. Thank God somebody wrote that. Many of the alcoholism books, funded by people who work for institutions where they want to take your money, won't write that.

- p. 238 discussion of Indians and genetics. Excellent way to bring in the genetics issue.

p. 259 "a person who is in a state of confusion about who he is." That describes an alcoholic very well.

p. 275 "Total abstinence from all psychological drugs is the only goal." Thank god somebody said that. Too many places giving pills.

p. 277 Nutritional support - Excellent. I am s devoted student of Fit for Life and other nutritional ideas..