A Disease of One's Own


Book Description

In the present decade, "co-dependency" has sprung up on the landscape of American popular culture. Portrayed as an addiction-like disease responsible for a wide range of personal and social problems, co-dependency spawned a veritable social movement nationwide. 'A Disease of One's Own' examines the phenomenon of co-dependency from a sociological perspective, viewing it not as something a person "has," but as something a person believes; not as a psychological disease, but as a belief system that offers its adherents a particular way of talking about the self and social relationships. The central question addressed by the book is: Why did co-dependency--one among a plethora of already-existing discourses on self-help--meet with such widespread public appeal? Grounded in theories of cultural and social change, John Steadman Rice argues that this question can only be adequately addressed by examining the social, cultural, and historical context in which co-dependency was created and found a receptive public; the content of the ideas it espoused; and the practical uses to which co-dependency's adherents could apply those ideas in their everyday lives. In terms of the larger American context, his analysis links the emergence of co-dependency with the permeation of psychological concepts and explanations throughout Western culture over the past thirty years, focusing particularly on the cultural and social impact of the popular acceptance of what the author calls "liberation psychotherapy." Liberation psychotherapy portrays the relationship between self and society as one of intrinsic antagonism, and argues that psychological health is inversely related to the self's accommodation to social expectations. Rice argues that a principal source of co-dependency's appeal is that it affirms core premises of liberation psychotherapy, thereby espousing an increasingly conventional and familiar wisdom. It simultaneously fuses those premises with addiction-related discourse, providing people with a means of making sense of the problems of relationship and identity that have accompanied what Rice terms the "psychologization" of American life. This brilliant analysis of the phenomenon of co-dependency will be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, psychotherapists, and those interested in American popular culture.




The Disease of More


Book Description

The Disease of More chronicles the childhood, young adulthood and current life experiences of Eleanor R., a woman who overcame great odds to recover from the diseases of alcoholism and food addiction. It is the true story of one woman's journey toward becoming the person she always wanted to be, despite her disadvantaged upbringing and her early affliction with addictions that took her to places of extreme shame and humiliation. Eleanor is every woman who struggles with self medication through food, alcohol and things. She is a mother, a wife, an influential public servant in one of the largest states in the nation, but still, after 25 years, she must get up each day and be vigilant against slipping back into cravings and her fears that she does not have enough. This book is an inspiring story of surrender and ultimate victory. Every reader will discover nuggets of Eleanor's hard-won wisdom that drive home the truth of her journey and the triumph of her courage.




The Biology of Desire


Book Description

Through the vivid, true stories of five people who journeyed into and out of addiction, a renowned neuroscientist explains why the "disease model" of addiction is wrong and illuminates the path to recovery. The psychiatric establishment and rehab industry in the Western world have branded addiction a brain disease. But in The Biology of Desire, cognitive neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes a convincing case that addiction is not a disease, and shows why the disease model has become an obstacle to healing. Lewis reveals addiction as an unintended consequence of the brain doing what it's supposed to do-seek pleasure and relief-in a world that's not cooperating. As a result, most treatment based on the disease model fails. Lewis shows how treatment can be retooled to achieve lasting recovery. This is enlightening and optimistic reading for anyone who has wrestled with addiction either personally or professionally.




The Urge


Book Description

Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and The Boston Globe An authoritative, illuminating, and deeply humane history of addiction—a phenomenon that remains baffling and deeply misunderstood despite having touched countless lives—by an addiction psychiatrist striving to understand his own family and himself “Carl Erik Fisher’s The Urge is the best-written and most incisive book I’ve read on the history of addiction. In the midst of an overdose crisis that grows worse by the hour and has vexed America for centuries, Fisher has given us the best prescription of all: understanding. He seamlessly blends a gripping historical narrative with memoir that doesn’t self-aggrandize; the result is a full-throated argument against blaming people with substance use disorder. The Urge is a propulsive tour de force that is as healing as it is enjoyable to read.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick Even after a decades-long opioid overdose crisis, intense controversy still rages over the fundamental nature of addiction and the best way to treat it. With uncommon empathy and erudition, Carl Erik Fisher draws on his own experience as a clinician, researcher, and alcoholic in recovery as he traces the history of a phenomenon that, centuries on, we hardly appear closer to understanding—let alone addressing effectively. As a psychiatrist-in-training fresh from medical school, Fisher was soon face-to-face with his own addiction crisis, one that nearly cost him everything. Desperate to make sense of the condition that had plagued his family for generations, he turned to the history of addiction, learning that the current quagmire is only the latest iteration of a centuries-old story: humans have struggled to define, treat, and control addictive behavior for most of recorded history, including well before the advent of modern science and medicine. A rich, sweeping account that probes not only medicine and science but also literature, religion, philosophy, and public policy, The Urge illuminates the extent to which the story of addiction has persistently reflected broader questions of what it means to be human and care for one another. Fisher introduces us to the people who have endeavored to address this complex condition through the ages: physicians and politicians, activists and artists, researchers and writers, and of course the legions of people who have struggled with their own addictions. He also examines the treatments and strategies that have produced hope and relief for many people with addiction, himself included. Only by reckoning with our history of addiction, he argues—our successes and our failures—can we light the way forward for those whose lives remain threatened by its hold. The Urge is at once an eye-opening history of ideas, a riveting personal story of addiction and recovery, and a clinician’s urgent call for a more expansive, nuanced, and compassionate view of one of society’s most intractable challenges.










Chasing My Cure


Book Description

LOS ANGELES TIMES AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • The powerful memoir of a young doctor and former college athlete diagnosed with a rare disease who spearheaded the search for a cure—and became a champion for a new approach to medical research. “A wonderful and moving chronicle of a doctor’s relentless pursuit, this book serves both patients and physicians in demystifying the science that lies behind medicine.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene David Fajgenbaum, a former Georgetown quarterback, was nicknamed the Beast in medical school, where he was also known for his unmatched mental stamina. But things changed dramatically when he began suffering from inexplicable fatigue. In a matter of weeks, his organs were failing and he was read his last rites. Doctors were baffled by his condition, which they had yet to even diagnose. Floating in and out of consciousness, Fajgenbaum prayed for a second chance, the equivalent of a dramatic play to second the game into overtime. Miraculously, Fajgenbaum survived—only to endure repeated near-death relapses from what would eventually be identified as a form of Castleman disease, an extremely deadly and rare condition that acts like a cross between cancer and an autoimmune disorder. When he relapsed while on the only drug in development and realized that the medical community was unlikely to make progress in time to save his life, Fajgenbaum turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action: Between hospitalizations he studied his own charts and tested his own blood samples, looking for clues that could unlock a new treatment. With the help of family, friends, and mentors, he also reached out to other Castleman disease patients and physicians, and eventually came up with an ambitious plan to crowdsource the most promising research questions and recruit world-class researchers to tackle them. Instead of waiting for the scientific stars to align, he would attempt to align them himself. More than five years later and now married to his college sweetheart, Fajgenbaum has seen his hard work pay off: A treatment he identified has induced a tentative remission and his novel approach to collaborative scientific inquiry has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. His incredible story demonstrates the potency of hope, and what can happen when the forces of determination, love, family, faith, and serendipity collide. Praise for Chasing My Cure “A page-turning chronicle of living, nearly dying, and discovering what it really means to be invincible in hope.”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit “[A] remarkable memoir . . . Fajgenbaum writes lucidly and movingly . . . Fajgenbaum’s stirring account of his illness will inspire readers.”—Publishers Weekly







When the Body Says No


Book Description

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER From renowned mental health expert and speaker Dr. Gabor Maté, this acclaimed, bestselling guide provides insight into the mind-body link between illness and health, and the critical role that stress and our emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases. In this accessible and groundbreaking book—filled with the moving stories of real people—medical doctor and bestselling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and many others. An international bestseller translated into over thirty languages, When the Body Says No promotes learning and healing, providing transformative insights into how illlness can be the body's way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge. With great compassion and erudition, Dr. Maté demystifies medical science and empowers us all to be our own health advocates.




Proceedings


Book Description




Recent Books