When Society Becomes an Addict [Paperback]

Anne Wilson Schaef (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 1988

An incisive look at the system of addiction pervasive in Western society today.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Rather than focusing on addictions to such substances as alcohol, drugs, or food or to processes such as gambling, sex, or work, this interesting and unusual treatise uses the concept of relationship addiction. According to this concept, an individual is seen as always being in a superior (or inferior) position to another, an addictive situation that creates self-centeredness, dishonesty, and greed. The symptons associated with relationship addiction are equated with those associated with the "White Male System" (described in Schaef's Women's Reality , LJ 6/15/81) and provide telling insights into why we have a dysfunctional society many of whose members are addicted to substances and processes. Barbara J. Powell, Veterans Administration Medical Ctr., Kansas City, Mo.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The author of "Women's Reality goes one step further in interpreting white male culture as an addictive culture. Taking into account substances like alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs, as well as behaviors like eating, spending, and sex, Schaef looks at addictions as part of an all-encompassing societal matrix, and shows us how to think and act more freely."-- "Ms."Schaef's work has profoundly influenced my thinking, giving me the language and metaphors to better understand myself, others, and previously baffling situations I have encountered."-- Florence Graves, editor, "New Age Journal"Anne Wilson Schaef eloquently articulates the problems and processes of addiction and codepenency. Challenging readers to more beyond their own dependency issues and to recognize the addictive system we live in, she offers us a much clearer option of choosing, not to die, but to live."-- Claudia A. Black, author of "It Will Never Happen to Me"Schaef dares and directs the reader to think and behave anew in order to live an addictive-free, whole life....She makes new and long overdue connections between addictive individuals and society. I sensed that history was being made as I read: new ground was turned; new truths discovered. No one can read this book without making fresh self-discoveries."-- Jack M. Smith, The Stanley Foundation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (April 20, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062548549
• ISBN-13: 978-0062548542
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows why addiction is so widespread in society, April 23, 1998

By 

Casca (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Society Becomes an Addict (Paperback)

Due to the pressures of modern life, many people are addicts of one kind or another.Anne Schaef shows how society as a whole behaves in addictive ways.We usually think of an addict as being someone addicted to a drug, but there are many kinds of addiction.There are substance addictions, such as to alcohol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine and food.Everyday activities can become process addictions,such as accumulating money,gambling, sex,work,religion and worry.Personal relationships can also be addictive.Many politicians behave like addicts,as they are hooked on control, promising things will get better(but they do not)denying problems and denying alternative ways of doing things.This all adds up to the Addictive System which is modern society.Schaef concludes that "we cannot allow anything to come between us and our spirituality, or between us and our living process.If we do, we shall destroy ourselves and those around us."This is a very worthwhile book, with penetrating insight into modern life.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must reading to understand what's wrong in America today!, October 7, 2003

By 

Andrea G. Thompson "'smiling bookworm'" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Society Becomes an Addict (Paperback)

This brilliantly innovative thinker throws back the curtains on our collective society's understanding of ourselves, and opens up possibilities for really positive solutions to what ails our society as a whole, and its individuals, in particular! Ms. Schaef addresses all forms of addiction, from chemical to behavioral, and sees within our society's gradual acceptance of its own corruptions the seven deadly sins of anger, covetousness, envy, gluttony, lust, pride and sloth. Perpetuating our malaise we see in our leaders the aspects of control, dishonesty and dualism (seeing only two alternative solutions to any problem.) It is shocking to face these at first, but once the truth of it dawns on the reader, he/she is led through the greatest assisting factors toward our collective "recovery": Process (the ideas used in the 12-step programs); Sobriety (fastest route to clear thinking); and Spirituality (not necessarily the dogmatic sort that keeps us in the submissive, non-living, non-aware state!) This book is not for the person too busy to have time to digest something wonderfully deep and enriching! Reading it is like taking a shower in the purest, cleansing water, and emerging to absorb its message like rays of powerful sunshine! It is empowering. A fantastic door opening to the possibilities of our becoming a truly free and healthy society of thinking, alive, deprogrammed individuals! Read this one before any of her other books! Her newly coined terms will become valuable assets in your vocabulary and liberated mind-set!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addiction Theory: Beyond Psychology to Social Root Causes, July 31, 2001

By 

MR J W MEALY (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Society Becomes an Addict (Paperback)

This is a top book. It analyses the addiction patterns of individuals from the perspective of the addictive patterns in society as a whole. Ann Wilson Schaef goes beyond analysis of the "problem" of addiction to a very encouraging vision of another way of being alive, one that is mostly forgotten in our numb modern society. If you are looking for some ways out of the cycle of addiction, this may be an important roadmap for you.