Understanding Drugs of Abuse: The Processes of Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery [Hardcover]

Mim J. Landry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0880485337 | ISBN-13: 978-0880485333 | Publication Date: January 1994 | Edition: 1

-What is addiction? -How do you know if someone is addicted? -Are some people more prone to addiction than others? -Are some drugs more addictive than others? -How can you help someone who doesnAt want help? Understanding Drugs of Abuse is designed to bring the everyday reader face-to-face with drugs of abuse and addiction. Through frank, no-nonsense explanations of the stimulants, depressants, psychedelics, and inhalants, this accessible guide will help the reader to understand how drugs of abuse affect thinking, behavior, perceptions, and emotions. It also examines the effects addiction has on the addictAs family. Understanding Drugs of Abuse demystifies the treatment process by explaining what types of treatment are available, what actually happens during treatment, and what patients and their families can expect during the treatment process. The book also describes the recovery process and will help people identify good recoveryAas well as recognize poor recovery and the warning signs of relapse. Perhaps most important, Understanding Drugs of Abuse explains how friends and family can intervene when someone they love does not want help. Because the use of prescribed medications by people with substance use disorders can be misunderstood or even be dangerous, this book presents practical information about medications and recovery. It also explores the unique problems of adolescents who are addicted, as well as people with the dual disorders of a psychiatric and substance use disorder. Understanding Drugs of Abuse will also help the reader understand the role of genetics and other influences on addiction to alcohol, the most widely abused drug of all.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Professionals should scrutinize this volume as a resource for patients, families, and friends. This lucid guide for a lay audience covers basic principles of addiction, reviews various classes of drugs, and presents a comprehensive guide to treatment. Included are chapters on dual diagnosis and adolescent addiction."-- "Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic"

About the Author

Mim J. Landry is a medical writer specializing in addiction and psychiatry. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, Family Practice Recertification, and California Nursing Review. He is a co-author of The New Drugs: Lookalikes, Designer Drugs, and Drugs of Deception. Mr. Landry was the Director of the Training and Education Project at the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinics in San Francisco where he worked for eight years. Mr. Landry is the Director of Editorial Services for Danya International, a Silver Spring, Maryland health communications company. In this capacity, he develops educational materials for healthcare professionals, such as online courses and similar products regarding substance abuse treatment and prevention, mental health treatment, and public health.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Amer Psychiatric Pub; 1 edition (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880485337
• ISBN-13: 978-0880485333
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #627,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Author, January 21, 2003

By 

Mim Landry (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Drugs of Abuse: The Processes of Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery (Hardcover)

I wrote this book for two broad audiences and purposes. First, it is intended to provide useful information to lay but informed readers who want to understand the drugs of abuse and the addiction and treatment processes. Second, it can be used as a textbook in a university addiction studies program and as a reference guide to the drugs of abuse and the processes of addiction, treatment, and recovery. One of the things that fueled my interest to write the book is the fact that there are many poorly-researched and highly-opinionated books on substance abuse-related issues. I made an intense effort to ensure that this book was research-based, heavily referenced, objective, and helpful.

The first half of the book focuses on the drugs of abuse, how they work, and how they affect biological, psychological, and social functioning. It was written in part to answer such frequently-asked questions as "How does this drug work?" and "Is this drug addictive?" The second half of the book provides a good description of the addiction process, and walks the reader through the treatment and recovery processes. It also provides additional attention to such issues as individuals with coexisting psychiatric and substance use disorders, genetics and alcoholism, and adolescent addiction. Throughout, this book helps the reader to understand that addiction, treatment, recovery, and even relapse are all dynamic biopsychosocial processes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Author, January 21, 2003

By 

Mim Landry (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Drugs of Abuse: The Processes of Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery (Hardcover)

I wrote this book for two broad audiences and purposes. First, it is intended to provide useful information to lay but informed readers who want to understand the drugs of abuse and the addiction and treatment processes. Second, it can be used as a textbook in a university addiction studies program and as a reference guide to the drugs of abuse and the processes of addiction, treatment, and recovery. One of the things that fueled my interest to write the book is the fact that there are many poorly-researched and highly-opinionated books on substance abuse-related issues. I made an intense effort to ensure that this book was research-based, heavily referenced, objective, and helpful.

The first half of the book focuses on the drugs of abuse, how they work, and how they affect biological, psychological, and social functioning. It was written in part to answer such frequently-asked questions as "How does this drug work?" and "Is this drug addictive?" The second half of the book provides a good description of the addiction process, and walks the reader through the treatment and recovery processes. It also provides additional attention to such issues as individuals with coexisting psychiatric and substance use disorders, genetics and alcoholism, and adolescent addiction. Throughout, this book helps the reader to understand that addiction, treatment, recovery, and even relapse are all dynamic biopsychosocial processes.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only drug abuser's should be able to talk about drugs!, January 14, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Understanding Drugs of Abuse: The Processes of Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery (Hardcover)

This book was not at all useful and really boring. Take a bunch of medical research and add a dull author who obviously doesn't know anything about drugs except what he heard> terrible writing and fiction all over the book.HOW COULD SOMEONE TALK ABOUT RECOVERY AND ABUSE IF THEY HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED IT! tHIS BOOK SHOULD BE CALLED"THE BASIC RULES OF HYPOCRISY AND THE DULL AUDIENCE WHO IS EASILY BRAINWASHED"