Breaking Addiction audiobook

According to Dodes:• Addictive behavior essentially amounts to indirect (and therefore, ineffective) responses to feelings of helplessness, typically stemming from formative early life events.• Episodes of addictive behavior have identifiable Key Moments i.e. definite instances (often occurring well in advance of the behavior) when the pivotal decisions to use are made. • Identifying the Feelings of Helplessness, and Key Moments associated with the addictive behavior pattern is critical to effective intervention. • This type of honest behavioral analysis can be difficult for the individual to perform, depending on the individuals Defensive Style i.e. the individuals particular psychological strategies (often unconscious) for denying or distorting reality in order to maintain an acceptable self-image.• Overcoming addiction entails (a) gaining clarity into the afore mentioned mechanisms of the addictive behavior, and (b) adopting effective long and short-term strategies for taking ongoing, effective direct action to address the actual problem.Before I go on, I should mention that I am a masters level clinician in training at an addiction treatment facility. I provide this disclaimer, not as some kind of declaration of expertise (I'm not an expert, I'm a trainee). But rather, as a clarification of my particular needs as a consumer of this book. In other words, I'm basing my review of this book on weather or not it provides me with information and techniques that I can use to help my clients recover from addiction. That being said, I have mixed feelings about this book. Dodes acknowledges that addiction involves biological, psychological and social factors. That being said, he emphasizes emotional factors (taking a more or less psychodynamic approach) and deemphasizes, even to the point of dismissal, the neuroscience (brain disease) approach. He makes some valid points regarding the emotional drivers of addiction, but misses the opportunity to construct a more integrated model by playing the "emotions are everything, physical dependence is inconsequential" angle so insistently. I think I would have given Breaking Addiction three (as opposed to four) stars, were it not for Dodes' amazingly rich and instructive case study examples. Wow! This book shines in this department. Dodes is masterful at providing compelling examples of (a) how addiction presents in "ordinary lives", (b) how addiction is problematic, and (c) how (exactly) his interventions can be applied to change the problematic behaviors.Breaking Addiction is frequently mentioned in association with to two other recent books on the same subject: (1) In The Realm Of The Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate, and (2) Clear by David Shiff. Although Breaking addiction is a very good book, I'd say it is the weakest of the bunch.The Science Of Addiction by Carlton Erickson is another good book to add to the A list. It's much more technical than the others mentioned above. But if you really want a detailed understanding of the issue from the biological perspective, this book delivers a lot of information in a concise, well researched and written form.

Interesting and useful take on the mechanisms behind and treatments for addiction. The writing itself is decidedly bland, and the editing was inexcusably sloppy, but those objections mean little when bearing in mind the help this will lend those in struggle.

Great read and not intellectually over head of the layman reader. I think this is a more accurate theory of combating addiction then traditional "12 step" programs or things of that nature.

This is a short but fascinating book on insights into addiction and its treatment. He oversimplifies things, I believe, but his insights into the nature of addiction are fascinating.

Dr Lance Dodes does an excellent job demonstrating why people relapse into addictive behavior. He shows how using substances is an attempt to achieve a more tolerable state of mind. His extensive research on addiction is ground breaking in that it opens the readers mind to addiction having roots in a behavioral coping problem, rather than a disease.I highly recommend this book to anyone struggling with addictive tendencies, as well as treatment providers who treat clients struggling with addictive behaviors.

This was a good book which I became interested in reading after reading another book he authored, The Sober Truth. I definitely preferred his other book, but this one had some very interesting points. Dr. Dodes actually refuses the mainstream belief of addiction as a disease. Although I disagree with this particular stance, I enjoyed many elements of this book. The majority of the book was built on the idea that people, generally, are fighting against feelings of helplessness in many ways. People with substance use disorders, specifically, use addiction to cope with feelings of helplessness. I think the helplessness factor as a causative trigger for addiction was insightful.I also liked how he asked his patients to "think back" to each time they "decided to use" the substance as a way to trace the causative emotion. As for its realistic applicability in practice, it seems his "steps" which have been hard-won through many years of practice, could certainly benefit people. “Addictions are an attempt to preserve control over your feelings and your life and respond assertively to helplessness.”"We already know that addictions are a solution to an internal problem, not an attempt to create external problem for oneself or others. There is an even more fundamental problem with spending your time and effort thinking about the effects of addiction. The more time you spend on that, the less time you spending doing something truly valuable: looking at the causes of addiction”

I skipped the last chapter based on the author's permission! :)The book is very actionable. My biggest takeaway from this book is how important is our internal emotional life. The way Dr. Lance views addiction is certainly true. It makes sense that addiction levels are higher in low income countries where frustration and helplessness are way too often found. Although his other book was more enjoyable since it was about theory and pure psychology, this book holds more value as it helps you to see how addiction takes shape in different environments for different people. Goodread indeed!

Good book to understand the logic behind addictionsMaybe the book has too many examples but they are helpful and you can feel that you're experiencing one of them. I`ve learned what moves an addict person to do what he does. It is sometimes more complicated that it seems. The book can help you understand if you're an addict or not and how to overcome that situation by identifying the factors that trigger this kind of behaviour.

A very good book for people who want to stay away from addiction . You can't eliminate something upright, what this book teaches is how to identify thought patterns preceding your addiction so that you can be aware and make necessary adjustments so that you don't go down that path. Highly recommend

What a great book. This book describes perfectly the cycle of addiction. It is easy to read and the examples really help in understanding how to tackle any addiction or dependency. The book won't resolve the addiction by magic, however it will give good hints about where to go. It should be a must for anyone, even though there is not a dependency or addiction to address. As a parent it is good to know in advance about this topic because you never know when you would need that knowledge to help a loved one. Moreover, it makes you aware of how our parenthood can affect our children.

I read the translated book. I think i need to re-read it in English to further understand some ideas. Good book to figure out how to deal with any compulsive behavior you want to stop. As im a dietician i think it will assist me helping patients i see and counsel.

I really liked this. It was a bit fast paced but I gained insights into myself based on the case studies. I will reread some of the steps again.