Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Joshua Lyon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 13, 2010

"Daring and honest, Lyon exposes the facts about painkillers and those who abuse them; he also fearlessly reveals his own intense, often frightening story. Pill Head is a terrific book."
--Scott Heim, author of We Disappear and Mysterious Skin

"Fresh, funny, smart, and vulnerable."
--Kerry Cohen, author of Loose Girl

I was feeling no pain. I cared about nothing but this. . . . Three Vicodin. That was all it took. I was in love . . .

Joshua Lyon was no stranger to substance abuse. By the time he was seventeen, he had already found sanctuary in pot, cocaine, and Ecstasy--just to name a few. Ten years later on assignment for Jane magazine, he found himself with a bottle of Vicodin and a decision: dispose of the bottle or give in to his curiosity. He chose the latter and found his perfect drug.

Pill Head is a compelling and honest book in which one man examines his own addiction, while investigating the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse among today's Generation Rx. Joshua Lyon uncovers the truth of recreational drug use to provide a story not just of descent, but of determination, a message of encouragement for anyone who is wrestling to overcome, who is looking for the strength to heal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For a Jane magazine article, Lyon bought Vicodin illegally over the Internet. After devouring the painkillers he immediately ordered more, his journalistic research turning into a full-fledged addiction. Lyon had company in his opiate abuse—more than 33 million Americans have used prescription painkillers nonmedically, he notes. The seven million currently abusing Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet, et al., are more than those who use cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and meth combined. As Lyon researched his book—and fed his continuing addiction—he explored the latest permutation of the American drug culture, one that has snared everyone from doctors and schoolkids to grandmothers on social security. Lyon interpolates memoir segments between interviews with experts and profiles of other abusers. The fact that he also strongly advocates certain policy and treatment strategies adds another element to an already broad approach. The resulting swirl of characters, story lines and perspectives at first makes it difficult to find a narrative thread. Yet Lyon writes powerfully about his own experiences as a young, troubled gay man in New York City, and it's this human story that stays with the reader. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Joshua Lyon is a journalist who has worked for several major publications, including Interview, Condé Nast Traveler, V Life, and Jane. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; Reprint edition (July 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401310222
• ASIN: B0048BPEOY
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Special Needs
  • #93 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Journalists

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars What book were they reading ? July 29, 2009

By William M. Doolittle Jr.

Format:Hardcover

After reading all these reviews I bought Pill Head straight away. I guess it is true there is no accounting for taste. A recovering addict myself, I read lots of books about addiction. This one reads like a series of routine cheap magazine pieces strung together. Much of the time the process is glamorized, except when the addict hits bottom. There is nearly no introspection, no motivation, no attempt to discover why all these addicts are taking these drugs. It is simply: she did this, and took that, then did this, etc. etc . A big disappointment.

33 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pill Head:Prescribed for all those who have suffered a pill addiction or for those who want to understand the U.S. pill epidemic July 15, 2009

By The Second Road

Format:Hardcover

Joshua Lyon, author of Pill Head, has penned a book that could not be more timely. Pill Head is part drug addled memoir and part thoughtful, investigative journalism; it is the story of a pill addict told with unflinching honesty, from first pill to detox. The book weaves together the stories of addicts, doctors, and governmental agents--effectively demonstrating how the lives and decisions of each are intertwined in America's new drug epidemic--prescription pills.

Lyon admits that prior to his Vicodin use, he had sampled plenty of goodies from the recreational drug grab bag; ecstasy, coke, mushrooms, marijuana and LSD. While he might have been a self professed "expert at escapism," he wasn't an addict. He was a young, experimental, gay man with social anxiety; living and working in New York City as an editor of the popular magazine Jane. He, not unlike thousands of people, partied just hard enough one night a week to be left incapacitated the rest of the weekend. But when he first got a hold of Vicodin, as research for a magazine assignment in 2003, all prior dabbling paled in sensation to this new wonder drug. That pivotal night, instead of flushing the pills as instructed by his editor, Lyon found himself defiantly taking three Vicodin and later professing out loud, "This is what I've been waiting for my whole life."

Lyon escorts us into the lives of other pill heads who were also entranced by that feeling, even as addiction led them into emotional, spiritual, physical and financial despair.... We meet addicts like Jared, whose introduction to pills came from a high school inside connection at the local pharmacy and later escalated into a $45,000 habit; Caleb, whose first big OxyContin supply came from a stolen tractor trailer shipment; Heather, who doctor shopped and eventually stole prescription pads; and James Dean, charged with manslaughter because his own son overdosed from the very pills they sold together. Through Lyon's own exploits and those of others, we discover the secret trades sustaining this rampant market,

Also interspersed throughout the book are interviews with experts, like Carol Boyd, a research scientist for the Substance Abuse Research Center. who explains several factors that account for our current national level of painkiller abuse. There are currently 7 million who abuse them, which surpasses use of cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and inhalants combined. 33 million Americans admitted that they have non-medically used prescription painkillers. After all, this is a nation of pill poppers--one for every ailment--no wonder the rates of prescription pill abuse have skyrocketed.

DEA agent Mark Caverly acknowledges that the increase in painkiller abuse is related to "societal influences," and that "we turn to pharmaceuticals for everything." Lyon points out that with Generation RX, parents need to lock up their medicine cabinets, not their liquor cabinets. Not only are prescription pills popular among youth because they are easy to get but they also represent a more socially acceptable way of getting high than taking street drugs. It isn't as taboo to pop a pill, that someone "pharmed" from their mother's medicine cabinet, as it is to buy street heroin. However less taboo, it is just as deadly and the pills sometimes stronger than street drugs. Ironically, as Lyon's points out in a recent Huffington Post op-ed, there is surge in heroin use as pill heads now desperately resort to the once taboo street deals as a result of the DEA crackdown on pharmaceuticals.

Because our country has such an outdated way of understanding addiction, and drug control gets confused with pain control, there is what Lyon refers to as, "the witch hunt going on in the United States for doctors prescribing pain medication." Pill Head deftly tackles this discussion, introducing us to physicians like Dr. Hurwitz, whose lives have been ruined now that the DEA struggles to suppress the burgeoning pill epidemic. This is a current hot topic, as the DEA proceeds to take the authority to determine the legitimacy and appropriateness of a doctor's practice and doses prescribed, often at the costs of patient needs. While addicts and thieves flood the market by looting trucks full of pills, the DEA chooses to focus on diversion of pills from doctor to patient.

Lyon is not just an addict, or a journalist, but an empathetic writer sharing his story in hopes of raising public awareness. He is adept at orchestrating the many voices and layers involved in such a broad endeavor like Pill Head. The honest, raw chronicle of Lyon's own pill abuse unfolds and it becomes clear that the initial appeal of Vicodin, like "no apparent side effects" or feeling "fantastic, even when the high was over," was just a seductive illusion that slowly took over Lyon's life.

A sudden illness brought Lyon to the road of recovery, eventually landing him in detox. His ability to divulge the most intimate details grips the reader. It isn't always pretty, and the content might be intense for readers, especially recovering addicts, but the book offers us a necessary, compelling look at pill abuse; an addiciton affecting every demographic in the nation. Readers will find themselves in detox with him at the book's conclusion, anxiously hopeful and heartfelt that Lyon's illusion will finally shatter and he will take back his life. Pill Head is written with intensity, wit and is a message of hope.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Therapeutic and Educational June 14, 2010

By L. Read

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would love to thank Joshua Lyon for writing this. This book was a huge comfort and also confirmed so many of the things I have personally gone through, researched, wondered and felt. I would like to read a book about Emily's story as well! Some of her quotes felt as if they were echoed from my own mind. I am already going through and highlighting my favorite parts, and will definitely be reading it again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review by David Allan Reeves author of "Running Away From Me" December 8, 2010

By Barbara S. Reeves

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Running Away From Me

Last September, there was an article in Time magazine about a national epidemic of prescription drug addiction and accidental overdosing. With the proliferation of internet pharmacies and physicians prescribing more opioid painkillers than ever, the last ten years have seen a monumental increase in this type of drug use. "Pill Head" by Joshua Lyon uncovers the underworld of pain-pill dealing and the trap users find themselves in when they need help and seek treatment.

"Pill Head" is part memoir and part journalistic research into this ever-increasing pill-popping scourge. Except for the gay sex scenes, ahem, Lyon has written a heart-felt portrayal of his own addiction and the struggles of others he meets along the way. He also unveils numerous little-known facts about addiction and treatment.

The thing about pain-pill addiction is that it is so easy to hide and so easy to fall victim to. Anxiety-ridden people and those suffering from depression seem to be easy prey for the opiate monkey. It's warm embrace melts all fears and troubles away and seems to oil the gears of life, making the most tedious tasks glide along effortlessly. At first anyway. It seems that our brains have a pre-set amount of chemical neurotransmitters, and once they're burned up, the party's over. You can never go back. You've had your good times, and if you continue to grasp for more, you'll only get hell in return.

"Pill Head" looks into this and so much more, including the DEA's dubious prosecution of over-prescribing doctors, internet pharmacy scams and successful prison programs for addicts which politicians are afraid to fund.... He also looks into the newest research that includes vaccinations for addiction that are already in the works, and he discovers that many treatment centers out there don't have the addict's best interests at heart.

Newcomers to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are sometimes turned off by one or two things they don't like about the program. They tend to "throw the baby out with the bath water." But they're told, "Take what you can get and leave the rest." That's what I would say about "Pill Head".

Running Away From Me Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok I guess September 16, 2010

By K. Carr

Format:Hardcover

I was excited to read this book based on the other reviews I read, but was not as thrilled when I actually got it in my hands. Perhaps one of the first things that turned me off about the book was the way that it switched back and forth between Lyon's story and those of others. I did not get this book to read about others, I wanted to read strictly about Lyon's trials and tribulations. The second thing that turned me off about this book was the lengthy sections with statistics and stories about doctors, those parts were a real snooze. I felt that the book was all over the place and was not focused enough for me. Many times I found myself reading just to get through the book and be finished with it.