Concise Guide to Treatment of Alcoholism and Addictions

The number of pages in this book and its size may lead readers to believe that this is a very short overview of addiction and alcoholism. Fortunately, this is not true. This book is jam-packed with details on addiction, including its definition, various manifestations, treatment, etc. Also, it is very well-written, balanced and even-handed, on this volatile, much disputed subject. For example, unlike many books by psychiatrists, it does not dismiss or assault twelve-step programs. This is important because many medical professionals feel compelled to critique 12 step programs without giving them a fair hearing. Doctors feed their egos by maintaining that they can do a better job of treating addiction, particularly alcoholism. To be candid, doctors and others in the medical world are worried that non-professional approaches to addiction can be successful, thus dispensing with some of the services provided by these self-selected experts ( Doctors consider themselves to be an elite, without offering empirical, persuasive evidence that they know better on all things that even faintly fall within the ambit of professional medical treatment). Moreover, this book merges psychiatric treatment of mental disorders with treatement of addiction. This seems elementary, but it is truly amazing that so many psychiatrists do not feel obligated to know how to treat both addiction and mental disorders when they coalesce in one person. Ironically, most doctors don't want to treat addiction, but, as stated above, they don't want non-professionals (AA or NA) to get any credit for their efforts (often successful) in treating alcoholics and drug addicts. This book provides a lot of useful information for both professionals and for laymen. Highly recommended