The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction [Paperback]

Robert L Dupont M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2000

Why is the brain so vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and other drugs? How does addiction echo through families, cultures, and history? What is it that families and communities do to promote or prevent addiction? These are some of the questions that this thorough, thoughtful, and well-reasoned book answers--in clear, comprehensible terms. From the basics of brain chemistry to the workings of particular drugs such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, The Selfish Brain explains how individuals and communities become trapped in destructive habits--and how various treatments and approaches lead to recovery and whole, healthy lives. A practicing psychiatrist, Robert L. Dupont, M.D., is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a director of the White House Drug Abuse Prevention Office.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a truly remarkable book--remarkable in its scope, its wisdom, and its clarity. Dr. DuPont has drawn upon his lifetime career experience as a psychiatrist specializing in drug abuse and as a former government official (first Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse) to produce this most interesting account.... What has been learned from basic research on the biologic basis of drug-seeking behavior is simplified for the nonscientist reader to understand. The properties of the several families of addictive drugs are explained fully and correctly. And the sections on drug policy and the societal dangers of a culture that tolerates drug use are exemplary in this reviewer's opinion. Especially persuasive are the arguments against any form of drug legalization."-- "Avram Goldstein, M.D., Addiction" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Robert L. DuPont, M.D., has been a leader in the fields of substance abuse and anxiety disorders for more than twenty-five years. Since 1978 he has been president of the Institute for Behavior and Heath, a nonprofit research and policy organization. He is also vice president of Bensinger, DuPont, and Associates, a management consulting firm dealing with workplace substance abuse. He has been Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine since 1980. Dr. DuPont received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA in 1963. He was a psychiatric resident and teaching fellow at the Massachusetts Mental Heath Center and Harvard Medical School, (1964-1966); and a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD (1966-68). Dr. DuPont was the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from its inception in September 1973 until July 1978. In June 1973 he was appointed by the President to direct the White House Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP), a position he held until the office terminated in June 1975. As SAODAP director, with a staff of more than one hundred, he coordinated the government's drug abuse treatment, research, and prevention efforts. From 1970 to 1973, Dr. DuPont was administrator of the Narcotics Treatment Administration (NTA) of the District of Columbia Department of Human Resources. NTA was a comprehensive, city-wide, multi-modality program which treated 15,000 heroin addicts in twenty facilities with a staff of more than 500 during those three years. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1970), and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) (1989). He is a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and was chairman of the Drug Dependence Section of the World Psychiatric Association from 1974 to 1979. He was the founding president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) (1980-1984). In 1989 he became a founding member of the Medical Review Officer committee of ASAM (1989-present). Since 1969 he has maintained an active psychiatric practice specializing in addiction and anxiety disorders. He is listed in The Best Doctors in America and Who's Who in America. He has written for publication more than two hundred professional articles and fifteen books and monographs on a variety of subjects. The American Psychiatric Press, Inc. has recently published his books, Getting Tough on Gateway Drugs: A Guide for the Family and A Bridge to Recovery: An Introduction to Twelve-Step Addiction, was published by the American Psychiatric Press in 1995. In 1998 he and his two daughters, Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, MSW and Caroline M. DuPont, M.D., wrote The Anxiety Cure: An Eight-Step Program for Getting Well, published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. The Anxiety Cure had the distinction of being a featured selection of the Book of the Month Club, the Quality Paperback Club, and the One Source Book Club.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Hazelden; Updated edition (March 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568383630
• ISBN-13: 978-1568383637
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Resource Available, April 13, 2005

By 

Read2XL "Bebe" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction (Paperback)

I have found this to be an excellent resource for every aspect of addiction. Dr. Robert Dupont is emminently qualified to author this text. He does an excellent job of personalizing his writing with examples from his practice. He offers a message of hope for addicts and their families. It is a tome, but a very readable one, and he even includes (in the introduction) a way to "speed read" it in 2.5 hours. I read it twice in a weekend and am about to order my third copy! (I just seem to find people to give them to).

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The science of addiction, July 30, 2006

By 

Rob (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction (Paperback)

Dr. Dupont is the former head of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (part of the National Institutes of Health). He presents the science of addiction and recovery in a way that anyone can understand. This book was recommended to me by a former private patient of Dr. Dupont's, who had nothing but good things to say about him. I thought the book was excellent, and it really explains what works and why.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on addiction, February 3, 2010

By 

Julie M. Brandt "Mamawolf" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction (Paperback)

I love the way this book is written, it keeps the reader interested and hungry for more information. This book is written for a lay person to be able to understand the disease of addiction and how it affects the addict, the family and society as a whole. I am a drug and alcohol counselor, and this is probably the best book I have ever read on addiction. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the study of addiction as well as anyone who is personally struggling with addiction in thier family or friends.