Write 2 and a half page for each book
Book#1
Dr. James R. Milam and Katherine Ketchem. Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism, Bantam Books, 2011
Book#2.
NB: I already wrote one page on book 2. You just need to write the second and half page
Walter Ling, MD. Mastering the Addicted Brain. New World Library, 2017
Report of the book “Mastering the Addicted Brain.”
Walter Ling’s book “Mastering the Addicted Brain” is a book written for people with drug addiction. The author explains addiction and provides a step by step guide on “getting off and staying off drugs” to live a meaningful life with a purpose.
This paper will assess the author’s perspective on addiction, essential ideas from the book, my understanding of the topic and how it can be useful to me as an addiction counselor.
The book efficiently addresses the importance of seeing addiction as a brain disease. For the author, drugs and alcohol addictions are a brain disease. He stresses particularly the drugs which include opioids as prescription pain pills and stimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine. According to Walter Ling, addiction permanently changes the brain of the addicted person. However, the book implies that there is difference between becoming addicted and being addicted. In chapter one of the book, the writer explains that the reason why people do drugs is to feel good. He points out nonetheless that there are two types of happiness. There is the happiness to give pleasure to self or having a good time which in known as hedonia, and there is the happiness that comes from loving and giving to others which known as eudemonia.
In chapter two, the author discusses the importance of getting off drugs and staying off drugs. Thus, he teaches the first important step to recovery which is getting off drug is through detoxification. The process of detoxification (detox) describes in the book involves for the addict to be in an inpatient facility and away from illicit drugs as well as being under medical supervision. Moreover, the writer explains that during detox, the effects of drugs are removed. In the book, the addicts going through detox will experience pain, but the pain will end. However, the memories of the effects of the drugs in the addicted person’s brain will always remain in the brain. In fact, the reason why the author’s perspective on addiction includes a brain disease is that repetitions of drugs use create drug memories and subsequently a chemical change in the brain. Thus, the book reveals that is important for the addict to replace the drug memories with a non memory drugs.
The next step to recovery is relapse prevention by learning to “staying off drugs”. Thus, the book unveils that addiction can be combated by identify cues, drug memories, triggers, stress, and embracing good physical health and sound emotional build up.
