Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader

Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction

by
Maia Szalavitz (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Maia Szalavitz Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Maia Szalavitz (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 70 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1250055828
ISBN-10: 1250055822
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$16.21 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$19.01 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
More Buying Choices
55 New from $11.67 18 Used from $15.08
73 used & new from $11.67
See All Buying Options
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Prime Student Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

Wiley Summer Savings Event.
Wiley Summer Savings Event.
Save up to 40% during Wiley's Summer Savings Event. Learn more.
$19.01 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
click to open popover

Frequently Bought Together

  • Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction
  • +
  • Rewired: A Bold New Approach To Addiction and Recovery
Total price: $30.62
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Rewired: A Bold New Approach To Addiction and Recovery
    Erica Spiegelman
    4.6 out of 5 stars 74
    Paperback
    $11.61 Prime
  2. The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease
    Marc Lewis PhD
    4.2 out of 5 stars 75
    Paperback
    $10.77 Prime
  3. The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease
    Marc Lewis PhD
    4.2 out of 5 stars 75
    Hardcover
    $18.35 Prime
  4. Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered
    Bruce D. Perry
    4.7 out of 5 stars 84
    Paperback
    $10.25 Prime
  5. Recovery Options: The Complete Guide
    Joseph Volpicelli
    4.6 out of 5 stars 12
    Paperback
    $12.94 Prime
  6. The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry
    Lance Dodes
    3.6 out of 5 stars 155
    Paperback
    $13.70 Prime
Next

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

  (What's this?)
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 5, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1250055822
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250055828
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.3 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

  (What's this?)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best books I've ever read on addiction
By Deanokat TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on January 25, 2016
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
As a recovery advocate and the father of someone in long-term recovery, I've read more books about addiction than I can count. When my son first started struggling with drugs, I made a vow to educate myself as much as I possibly could. Knowledge is power, and I wanted to know *everything* about addiction. I still do. So I read about it. A lot. And I can honestly say that Maia Szalavitz's "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" is one of the best books I've ever read on the subject.

Maia Szalavitz is a fabulous writer who has penned a wonderful, very forward-thinking book about addiction. She introduces us to some new theories about addiction, several of which may have people re-examining the way they've thought about one of the most prevalent and deadliest problems in America today.

Szalavitz sets out to show that addiction isn’t a choice or moral failing. "But it’s not a chronic, progressive brain disease like Alzheimer's, either," she notes. “Instead, addiction is a developmental disorder--a problem involving timing and learning, more similar to autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia than it is to mumps or cancer." Yes, Szalavitz is blazing new trails here.

The author contends that "addiction doesn't just happen to people because they come across a particular chemical and begin taking it regularly. It is learned and has a history rooted in their individual, social, and cultural development." She adds that the addicted brain is not "broken," as many other researchers and writers have suggested. Instead, she says, the addicted brain has "simply undergone a different course of development....Read more ›
2 Comments 106 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsAn important book on addiction – parents should read this
By Just Me on February 21, 2016
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
In this book, Szalavitz takes a detailed look at the evolving understanding of just what drug addiction is and how it develops. (Do note that although the back of the book refers to addictions in the broad scope, mentioning sex, gambling, porn, and the internet, in addition to alcohol and drugs, the book is definitely focused on drugs. That said, because this new understanding of addiction applies to a vast array of addictions, this book is definitely of value to anyone interested in any addition - food in my case. I weigh half what I used to and want to keep it this way.)

Szalavitz presents addiction as a developmental disorder. Although I personally see it as more of a case of learning gone wrong (a maladaptive way to deal with stress), her view and mine overlap in nearly all aspects. A key point she makes is, “In both autism and addiction, for example, repetitive coping behaviors are frequently misinterpreted as the source of the problem, rather than being seen as attempts at solutions.” This is very important when it comes to preventing addiction, dealing with it in self or others, and policies involving it, both in its treatment and in the legal eye.

Szalavitz further explains the core of the issue, “Critically, addiction in not created simply by exposure to drugs, nor is it the inevitable outcome of having a certain personality type or genetic background, though these factors play a role. Instead, addiction is a learned relationship between the timing and pattern of the exposure to substances or other potentially addictive experiences and a person’s predispositions, cultural and physical environment, and social and emotional needs.Read more ›
1 Comment 48 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 stars"Unbroken Brain" shows struggling 12 Stepper a "Brave New World!"
By Allison Strong on June 19, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I HAD to buy a brand new copy of this book. At 55, after a long history of polysubstance abuse, and a 12-step groups expat, I'm at a loss to explain how the urge to 'Use' or "Drink" to excess has faded into memory. Other compulsive behaviors have remained however, so I needed to read this book.

Even if you don't like to read, you'll find this blockbuster-compelling ; as Szalavitz,both both a truther and survivor of addiction, rehab and recovery, from an 'Inside Out' frankness so poetic it knocks my socks off.

It shows the WHY our country's punitive, even "Draconian" measured and laws put in place failed to yield lifesaving results as we foolishly abused people with addiction on the "War On Drugs."

Another thing.....AA'ers, often say "Once and Alcoholic always an Alcoholic." (I'm not sure if this is said verbatim in The Big Book but it's implied)

They apply similar dogma with regards to recovery from other compulsive behaviors.

In my life...well, maybe not so much.... It's all in the book.
If you are affected by or interested in addictive behavior, people who are dually diagnosed with a mental illness and substance abuse..

Even if you're not ready to 'recover,' (another stigmatizing term).this book is written for you. ...
Who knew some people outgrow this 'learning' issue? and furthermore explains why those laws and policies have never worked and how sadistic protocols, like being in the 'hotseat' during rehab group therapy doesn't help anyone, only reinforces low self esteem, shame and stigma.Read more ›
Comment 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsVery Important Voice in addiction research!

Brilliant and important. Addiction as a learning disorder is a fascinating concept that we should all be looking at more closely. Read more

Published 3 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsAn upbeat look at reversing addiction

A wonderful alternative explanation addiction recovery that is NOT 12-step. The author makes a skillful presentation about how 12-step and the resulting punitive judicial approach... Read more

Published 4 days ago by Ralphe Wiggins
5.0 out of 5 starsA whole new and better way to relate to addiction

A whole new and better way to relate to addiction. I am so, so happy I am reading this book. The old understandings and ways or relating to the addict are being replaced by a... Read more

Published 5 days ago by Niki S
5.0 out of 5 starsaddiction is a learning disorder?!?

She makes a compelling case, terrific insights and a new way to look at how to help your loved ones walking this tightrope.

Published 6 days ago by David Witt
5.0 out of 5 starsRead The Unbroken Brain

This is an outstanding book, well written and very well researched. In addition, the author speaks from personal experience

Published 8 days ago by Susan Haley
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

A must read for practioners and policy makers.

Published 16 days ago by WILLIAM C KETCH
3.0 out of 5 starsEnlightening

Very interesting take on addiction studies.

Published 16 days ago by Perry H.
1.0 out of 5 starsOne Star

I had hoped the author would have provided the references that supported her statements

Published 16 days ago by Diana Quealy-Berge
5.0 out of 5 starsYou Gotta Read This One

A lot of arresting and revolutionary ideas but well-researched. Fabulous ideas.

Published 17 days ago by Linda S. Clare
5.0 out of 5 starsYou won't be disappointed!

This book is excellent. I highly recommend that family members dealing with a loved ones addiction butt this.

Published 17 days ago by KRock68

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.