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

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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.

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.

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..

This book is an eye opening look at addiction and the havoc it creates in human relationships. Many of the destructive and dysfunctional behaviors experienced in relationships can be traced to alcohol or drug addiction. Addiction can mimic commonly known psychological illnesses, such as ego-mania and narcissism, making addiction very difficult to detect in its early stages. In fact, the early stage addict may display a high level of social competency and adjustment. People who become involved with the early stage addict will often regret it when the addiction progresses and behavior deteriorates. By the time an addiction becomes apparent, persons involved with the addict may have already suffered extreme psychological and financial abuse.

Because addiction is so destructive, and can be difficult to detect, subtle behavioral clues are important to identify potential problem relationships. The author has developed an indicator to identify likely addicts. Sixty symptoms and behaviors are listed which are seen in addicts. This information allows the reader to organize their observations and intuitions into concrete conclusions about problem relationships. It is then easier to escape, avoid, or change the relationship before severe damage is incurred.

As a manager, I have found the book helpful in identifying potential addiction problems among employees. After reading the book, the extent and destructiveness of addiction becomes apparent. The book will allow managers to identify addiction early and possibly even screen out employees in the hiring process. If the addict is not hired in the first place, the high cost of dealing with addiction problems can be avoided entirely.

The book is well written and enjoyable to read. I recommend it highly to everyone who deals with people.

Focusing on "financial abuse" of others (children, spouses, patients, partners, employers, and coworkers) as a marker for identifying alcoholism, Doug Thorburn offers a unique perspective on alcoholism specifically and drug addiction in general. His system for identifying alcoholics and other drug addicts highlights the critical necessity for early diagnosis and intervention -- recognizing addicts before their lives and the lives of their loved ones are destroyed by the disease of addiction. I highly recommend this unique, eye-opening book.

This book starts of well and had some insightful comments to make but renders itself questionable by being so over the top. While there are some thought provoking insights, the assumption that everyone who is a bad employee, everyone who's ever been in an accident (at fault or otherwise) anyone whose behavior deviates from what the author deems healthy is most likely abusing a substance seems a bit far fetched. I think the author forgets that we tend to find those people who share some of our worst qualities. Coming from both an alcoholic and an abusive family with a manic depressive parent, I have found a surprising number of people who have shared any one or more of these experiences. If I were to relate that to the world at large I would have to assume that 9 out of 10 women have been sexually assaulted and 75% of people have manic depressive relatives. This, of course is absurd. Does it mean these aren't rampant problems? Of course not, but by assuming the problem is more prevalent than it is, I cannot approach the subject rationally. Added to this (in my opinion) strong negative I also felt the statistical numbers he threw around were largely arbitrary. He all but said that his numbers were HIS assumption of the true numbers of alcoholics (or drug addicts as the case may be). Again and again it seems he ruins his credibility by making such rash assumptions. If he had approached it as a philosophical starting point to conversation, I might be less critical but instead I feel he's asking me to check all my friends' and colleges purses and briefcases for booze. He has obviously had some very unfortunate experiences with alcoholics and for that I feel deep sympathy for him, but creating a mentality of paranoia in his life may only lead to self fulfilling prophesies where he seeks out people who will let him down but validate his theories. I would hope that noone else would share this pessimistic view of life.

This book explained so much human behavior to me that I did not understand before. Like Copernicus revealing that the earth goes around the sun and not the other way around, Thorburn reveals that addiction is the root cause of much horrid human behavior rather than bad character or upbringing. With 10% of the population under the throes of addiction, it touches every one of our lives in a personal way. Just last weekend I heard a story at a party of a boss who terrorized his pregnant female employee, calling her derogatory names and assigning her tasks that required physical exertion beyond her means. Immediately I suspected alcoholism. Sure enough, upon further questioning I found out that this boss would go out on two hour lunches and come back drunk. Many stories I read in the newspapers are now comprehensible to me rather than merely bizarre. For example, the woman who hit a homeless man with her car and drove home with him embedded in her windshield and allowed him to bleed to death overnight. These are not just evil people, these are people suffering from a disease over which they have no control. And many of these people are in positions of power: police, doctors, lawyers, business executives, heads of state, the list goes on. Can you afford not to understand what makes these people tick, what obscenities they are capable of, and what can be done to stop them?

An enormously insightful book that is as well-written as it is thoroughly documented. No doubt ahead of its time. This book has an extraordinarily broad base of knowledge: it is at least as useful as any self-help/substance addiction recovery book you could hope to find (indeed, more so, in my opinion), and it practically demands to be placed alongside any business and financial planning-oriented materials; and, on the scientific side, it makes for a rather remarkable addendum to other notable works on the study of personality science (Keirsey; Myers-Briggs {MBTI}, Kroeger, et al, and note that I do not refer to something which is empirically verifiable, such as temperament and personality study, as "theory"; neither should anyone else). Thorburn covers a lot of ground, but he does so in a succinct writing style that is at once apprehendable; this author is part scientist, part financial planner, part psychologist, and finally--and what is the most welcome of all, in my estimation--part crusader.

A friend of mine passed along a copy of this book and I first dismissed it because I thought it was for someone with company employees. But I am a teacher with some students who have been in trouble from time to time, so I thought I'd take a look at this book. I was immediately struck by the author's personal experiences, his astute understanding of the phenomenon of addiction, and his keen advice. Throughout the book I was impressed with his extensive research and many the observations that had eluded me in my own encounters with addicts. Soon I felt a better understanding of my students with problems and a flash of insight with regard to my significant other. Most impressive was the radically sensible advice on how not to enable addicts in their abuse of non-addicts. Great book that I recommend to everyone.

This book was a wake up call. For anyone unconvinced on the health and financial dangers of dealing with drunks and addicts. This is a must read. Well written and pulls no punches. I followed some of Doug Thornburn's advice and quickly found an improvement in my bank account and personal life. I think that I also saved myself from making some serious personal mistakes. My only criticism of this book is that it black lists anyone who drinks or uses drugs. That makes for a pretty large segment of the population.

I highly recommend the book's check list on identifying addicts. I let some of the advice slide and paid for it, whether it was dealing with education, construction, fitness, military or legal matters. After that I re-read Thornburn's book to read the signs before another costly mistake. Very revealing, if not scary.

Doug Setter, Bsc.
Author of Stomach Flattening and One Less Victim: A Prevention Guide