Positive Addiction (Harper Colophon Books) (Paperback)

by William Glasser (Author) "Very few of us realize how much we choose the misery in our lives..." (more)
Key Phrases: negative addict, positive addicts, positive addiction, Joe Henderson, Reality Therapy, Mary Kay (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The author of Reality Therapy and Take Effective Control of Your Life shows readers how to gain strength and self-esteem through positive behavior.

About the Author
William Glasser, M.D., is a world-renowned psychiatrist who lectures widely. An author of many books, including Choice Theory, Reality Therapy, The Quality School, and Getting Together and Staying Together, he is the president of the William Glasser Institute in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (May 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060912499
• ISBN-13: 978-0060912499
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and potentially life-changing, August 21, 1998

By A Customer

This book starting me running 18 years ago in order to obtain a "positive addition" which is a repetitive activity that you do non-self-critically that has a beneficial effect on your mind and/or body. The author suggests that a positive addiction can forge new neuronal connections in the brain to help you think better and more creatievely. The main addictions discussed are running and meditation but there are many others including such arcane things as putting on makeup! This book was one of the early books to describe the "runner's high" which others have documented. Because of my desire to experience this and other benefits, I began a lifetime program of exercise and other types of self-improvements. Don't let the book's "old" publishing date put you off--newer self-help books are not necessarily better. I've often thought that this book's approach might especially benefit the so-called "addictive" personality, but I think all of us need to find ways to alter our consciousness without harming ourselves. This book has one of the keys.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book a Positive Experience for Me, May 5, 2004

By	J. McAndrew "Jeffrey C. McAndrew" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was a positive experience for me.
It helped me become more focussed at work and at home, and helped me realize that even a daily walk or some significant activity every day is vitally important. Human beings were not born to sit around, we were born to be active. Just look at the famous artists who lived into to their 90's because they loved what they did like Chagall and Grandma Moses. If you are positively addicted to what you do, then you will live a long life and love it. The key is finding your niche and running with it. A book should be written about people who love their careers and how this positive addiction helps to fuel other parts of their lives.

My father gave me this book. It is an easy read, but a smart book.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short little book but worth a read., May 28, 2000

By	sam (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews

Glasser examines the idea of Positive Addiction with running at the very centre of the book. Book is not that long, but tends to be somewhat repetitive... but still worth a read. Not Glasser's best book but even at that, the ideas he shares are good.. and the positive addiction idea does trickle into other parts of life, so that someone who is positively addicted to running or swimming or cycling, tends to feel better and can take that good feeling to other things they do. If people became more positively addicted to good relations with others... WOW! what an outcome that would be..and (third time said) Book is well worth a read..