Customer Reviews

The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You do not have to see a therapist to benefit from this book! This is the best book I have ever read about addiction. I found it to be different from every other book I've ever seen about this topic, and it has been enormously helpful to me, which I have to say was a big surprise given my experience with other books. The author is thoughtful, fair-minded, and compassionate, and the case histories are wonderful. This book really is in a class by itself, because it talks about the emotional basis of addictions in a way that I haven't seen anywhere else. If you are involved with 12-step programs, I personally think this book is perfectly compatible with them. But whether you have been in 12-step programs or not, this is a must-read book. I highly recommend it to anyone with addictive or compulsive behavior.

What a brilliant book! Dr. Dodes crafts an incisive, kind and compelling thesis about what drives addictions. The book is filled to bursting with illuminating case studies, many of which will apply to yourself or loved ones. Whatever the problem, he's got you covered. The writing is pitch perfect and the thinking is lucid. Dodes is the first author I've read who is really on to something. This book should be required reading for anyone touched by addiction.

I've been sober for 5 years thanks in part to AA, however, while this is good, i still switched my addiction to other harmful activities (gambling). Why, I wondered, could I seem to repress one addiction and another pops up in its place. Ridiculous, who am I fooling, I thought? I need something more.

I see addiction switching as a prevalent occurrence among AA members. - Sometimes less obvious but still there in attitude or action. When the "new" addiction still inhibits growth then what? That's where I was at until I said, "OK I can keep fooling myself or I can look deeper. As such I went to psychiatrist who gave me this book to read. It offered insight and thats what I need that it isn't and hasn't been just a character issue. Never thought it was deep inside.

Believe it or not I was trying to "help" myself overcome "helplessness" by drinking. ADD, recently diagnosed, has made the most sense to me as to why I drank. I couldn't and still don't buy into this business of powerlessness (I'm not an automoton) and I rebelled everytime I was told that's what was needed. - When I entered AA, I kind of said to myself "OK you believe what you want but I just need to talk to people". This is what most helped me to open up. - AA is good for that at least. And it still offers that for me.

Addiction isn't a simple matter and it doesn't go away just because you stop one type. This book offered me a flashlight to see what can be done.

I understand the powerless business advocated in AA but its not good enough for me at least. I am a thinking person for pete sakes. I have free-will.

3 stars because it didn't solve all my issues. Expect a lot, huh?

A must read for clinicians and those who imagine themselves to be "addicted" and therefore helpless. Dr. Dodes work is a major contribution to our developing understanding that "addiction" does not have to mean helplessness.

Excellent book for addiction. What the general public doesn't acknowledge and what the pharmaceutical companies and mental health advocates never mention is something that has long been known to psychotherapists. The supposedly helpless victim is always the one in charge, even of their own helplessness. Dr. Dodes research and experience in the cure of addiction mirrors my own research and experience, as a board-certified cognitive behavioral therapist, in the cure of depression.
A. B. Curtiss, author of BRAINSWITCH OUT OF DEPRESSION

The first 25 pages of this book describe and summarize the nature of addiction so well it struck me like a ton of bricks. Although I do believe that 12 steps and meetings can be helpful, there is never just one way to solve a problem. With addiction, it is certainly a difficult problem with a deep seated emotional root. I could relate to his descriptions, as well as his main theme, the "rage at helplessness" that triggers addictive behaviors. Whether or not you are in a 12-step program, or even if you are simply interested in addiction as an academic, this is the book to get.

I found this book to be a refreshing new point of view of addiction and its causes. This is a great book whether you are just curious about addictions, want to help yourself or someone else. I left this out around my house and my teenager started reading it. He told me that he looks at the addictive process from a new prospective. This is also an easy reading book. It speaks in an easily understood language.

Even-handed discussion of AA and individual psychotherapy for addiction.

Discusses alcohol and drug addictino, compulsive gambling, sex addiction and others.

Says that people with addiction are NOT a separate species from the general population. Addiction is a problem that afflicts all kinds of people.

Looks at what drives each individual person to drink/gamble/whatever. Anger at unrealized helplessness is a key, but the specifics vary from person to person.

Each episode is a choice, but largely an unconscious choice, so in essence no choice.

Understanding what happens at that moment the person decides to go ahead with the addictive act is what allows him or her to develop other choices.

This book will for sure give you a new view on addiction, whether you suffer with one or not. It's all about the human-ness of addiction. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Are all answered in an easy to follow way, with many different examples of what Dodes is talking about. This is a well-written book on a much-needed view of this problem, and what to do about it.

For 20 years I was addicted to caffeine, abusing it day in and day out. Planning my life around my morning espresso shots on an empty stomach. I believed that I was physically addicted and there was no way out. Then at the age of 38 I was diagnosed with adrenal stress, spine problems and severe dehydration. The gig was up, I had to kick the habit. With the help of this book, which I found totally by chance in the bookstore, I was able to grasp why my psychological addiction to caffeine was as important as my physical addiction. My chiropractor adjusted my neck so I felt less nerve tension--I no longer woke up with pounding headaches and depression. I realized that psychologically I had been addicted to other behaviors, non-substance related, as well. I realized how these various addictions were really all one addiction. I realized how other people in my family were addicts, moving from one addiction to the next. And I realized I could put a halt to my caffeine problem, I had the power. I was not helpless. I learned more about myself from this book than in three separate psychotherapies. I wish it had been published years ago, but better now than never. I recommend this book for everyone, not just addicts and compulsives. It helps one gain insight into the mystery of the psyche. I drink herb tea and water now and I'm slowly regaining my health. Thank God for Dr. Dodes and his compassionate treatment of the individual.