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pcdbigfoot's review
4.75
"“At the core of every addiction is an emptiness based in abject fear. The addict dreads and abhors the present moment; she bends feverishly only toward the next time, the moment when her brain, infused with her drug of choice, will briefly experience itself as liberated from the burden of the past and the fear of the future ..."
This book helped me understand addiction to a greater degree. There are no easy answers offered here, the value is in the deeper understanding.
Maté leads with painful stories of addicts he's worked with, establishing that this condition isn't a 'choice', and that it's not as simple as moral weakness. He talks us through the brain chemistry, and presents some interesting ideas about what motivates addictive behavior. He's careful not to call it an illness, because I think he doesn't want to externalize it. Rather - this is something we need to understand, accept, and learn to live with.
He's unequivocal about saying that it's not a simple genetic thing, advancing the claim that genetic 'predisposition' aside, that addiction is a set of coping mechanisms learned when we're subject to stress as our brains develop.
In recovery just over five years myself, I'm still working on how to feel about it. A key part for me is understanding how I and others get here. Maté does that without moralizing, extending compassion along with mindful self-accountability. The basis in compassion has been one of the things that's helped me to let go of the self-destructive defense mechanisms.
This felt like an important book for me to read. I'd highly recommend it for addicts, their loved ones, and anyone seeking to better understand addiction.
This book helped me understand addiction to a greater degree. There are no easy answers offered here, the value is in the deeper understanding.
Maté leads with painful stories of addicts he's worked with, establishing that this condition isn't a 'choice', and that it's not as simple as moral weakness. He talks us through the brain chemistry, and presents some interesting ideas about what motivates addictive behavior. He's careful not to call it an illness, because I think he doesn't want to externalize it. Rather - this is something we need to understand, accept, and learn to live with.
He's unequivocal about saying that it's not a simple genetic thing, advancing the claim that genetic 'predisposition' aside, that addiction is a set of coping mechanisms learned when we're subject to stress as our brains develop.
In recovery just over five years myself, I'm still working on how to feel about it. A key part for me is understanding how I and others get here. Maté does that without moralizing, extending compassion along with mindful self-accountability. The basis in compassion has been one of the things that's helped me to let go of the self-destructive defense mechanisms.
This felt like an important book for me to read. I'd highly recommend it for addicts, their loved ones, and anyone seeking to better understand addiction.
sophiatuffin's review
It’s a heavy book, and as others have suggested I think it’s built towards people with no experience of addiction or psychology. I took some things from it, but I stopped half way because I don’t believe I’ll gain any more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, Drug use, Suicide, and Hate crime
thejejo's review
5.0
I’ve been reading quite a bit of quit-lit lately. This book was so fantastic. Incredibly engaging. The stories add so much humanity. The author’s vulnerability and real truth around his work is moving. Not going to lie- I did have a little tear while reading this one.
vivalasvaiva's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Prefacing my rating my with: I think that this book maybe isn’t meant for people who already have a background in psychology/neuroscience. A lot of the ideas will feel familiar.
It feels like the intention of the book is to inspire compassion in the masses, which it does really well. Maté is skilled at weaving information through a readable narrative. At times, he does veer into language that feels somewhat dehumanising of people with addictions (e.g. viewing them as our own “dark mirrors”) and the white collar-ness of his own behaviours did inspire a groan. However, on the whole I believe his intentions are good and his message is sound.
It feels like the intention of the book is to inspire compassion in the masses, which it does really well. Maté is skilled at weaving information through a readable narrative. At times, he does veer into language that feels somewhat dehumanising of people with addictions (e.g. viewing them as our own “dark mirrors”) and the white collar-ness of his own behaviours did inspire a groan. However, on the whole I believe his intentions are good and his message is sound.
lonebookshelf's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
lsparrow's review
4.0
I appreciated this look at addictions - I feel that this is best a perspective from a systems and provider perspective.
From a personal / family perspective I left this book feeling even more hopeless. And although I can agree and see the childhood trauma lense - and feel it has validity - I was left feeling so hopeless.
I wish the book had spent more time talking about how we change our brains as adults.
From a personal / family perspective I left this book feeling even more hopeless. And although I can agree and see the childhood trauma lense - and feel it has validity - I was left feeling so hopeless.
I wish the book had spent more time talking about how we change our brains as adults.