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Very Short Introductions #724
Addiction: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring
Addiction is a subject which straddles public and personal interests; societal and criminal justice concerns; and family, social, and medical responses. It is a continuing area of uncertainty and concern for society and professionals trained in the field.
This Very Short Introduction presents the basic facts about what it is, how and why it develops, how it is treated, and how society can respond to it. Addictions to both illicit drugs and licit drugs (e.g., alcohol) are covered, as is the possibility that certain behaviours not involving drug use (e.g., compulsive gambling) can qualify as addictions. Keith Humphreys provides a jargon-free account of our present understanding of addiction, from treatment evaluations to
studies on the effects of public policies. He also illuminates the personal experience of addiction and recovery. Humphreys considers why some people become addicted and others do not, what treatments exist to help people who are addicted, and how the laws and regulations society establishes about drugs affects the
rate and experience of addiction.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Addiction is a subject which straddles public and personal interests; societal and criminal justice concerns; and family, social, and medical responses. It is a continuing area of uncertainty and concern for society and professionals trained in the field.
This Very Short Introduction presents the basic facts about what it is, how and why it develops, how it is treated, and how society can respond to it. Addictions to both illicit drugs and licit drugs (e.g., alcohol) are covered, as is the possibility that certain behaviours not involving drug use (e.g., compulsive gambling) can qualify as addictions. Keith Humphreys provides a jargon-free account of our present understanding of addiction, from treatment evaluations to
studies on the effects of public policies. He also illuminates the personal experience of addiction and recovery. Humphreys considers why some people become addicted and others do not, what treatments exist to help people who are addicted, and how the laws and regulations society establishes about drugs affects the
rate and experience of addiction.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2023
7 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 20, 2023
Sa nešto preko 100 strana, ova knjiga predstavlja zaista zaista kratki uvod u bolesti zavisnosti. Kompleksna tema kao što je ta teško da može biti obrađena obuhvatno u tako malo teksta, što je nešto sa čime se autorka vidno muči. Namesto da pruži solidno pokriće nekih oblasti a slabije nekih drugih, ona odlučuje da svemu, od neutralne biohemije do političke ekonomije zavisnosti prida podjednako pažnje, pružajući površne informacije i opšta mesta na svakom koraku. Ova knjiga je efektivno 100 strana dugačak pamflet o zavisnosti kakav bi se mogao naći u bolje opremljenim čekaonicama.
Deo loše ocene dolazi od moje loše procene nivoa složenosti materije koji mogu očekivati od knjige: ovo je tekst najviše prilagođen srednjoškolcima koji čak i nisu zainteresovani za temu.
Deo loše ocene dolazi od moje loše procene nivoa složenosti materije koji mogu očekivati od knjige: ovo je tekst najviše prilagođen srednjoškolcima koji čak i nisu zainteresovani za temu.
April 27, 2023
I had been really impressed with the "Very Short Introduction" series and was excited about this until I listened to it. Although Humphreys criticizes D.A.R.E. at one point, most of the content of his book sounds like the cops who gave presentations at my grade school, though maybe in slightly more academic language. There's no engagement with harm reduction or trauma-informed approaches. He explicitly states his view that, although addiction isn't a sin, but rather a disease, "addicts" aren't really like someone with heart disease, they're more like Typhoid Mary! Even when he ever-so-briefly mentions Portugal's successful decriminalization of all drugs and the well known "Rat Park" experiment, it's only to cast them as outliers that don't really offer any useful guidance for broader policy questions. He's really clinging for dear life to an outdated AA-centric approach.
January 23, 2024
I wanted to work through this book to help with a research project on addiction. I found it helpful to have some understanding of various areas of addictions. This book was brief (Very Short Introduction series...) But packed with enough info to make it worth the read!
I am looking forward to reading more books in this series.
I am looking forward to reading more books in this series.
August 18, 2023
Disclaimer: I am still a grad student in addictions and mental health, so I guess take what I say with a grain of salt.
Anyway, onto the review.
This is the first book I have read from this series and I wanted to start with something I knew to judge the scope of what these books covered. Although, it is important to note they are all by different authors as there is not going to be one person who is an expert in all 700+ topics that exist within these books. So that may have been a pointless thought to have anyway.
I will say that there was some good coverage but 99% is focused on substance abuse and addictions to physical substances with a little sprinkle mention of gambling disorder as it is listed in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. The author seems to have a bit of a disbelief in other behavioural addictions, which I suppose can be fair if you look at established research, but being new to this field we are beginning to look a lot into different behavioural addictions other than gambling disorder. The author, for example, does not believe in addictions to things like food because we need food to survive. Although, I have a hard time believing that seeing people in extreme cases (looking at you My 600-lb. Life) and even myself at my highest weight, that a food “addiction” cannot exist. Maybe this is because I had binge eating disorder, and maybe so do the people on TLC, but the way food impacts their life and every waking thought, as well as the way it impacted me, I think the thought of it being an addiction is not completely unreasonable. There may have also been brief mention of online gaming addictions, but not enough so for me to actually remember without going through the book again.
Aside from the lack of information on behavioural addictions, there also did not seem to be a ton of focus on harm reduction. It did get its own section, but it seemed brief for what could have been said (but keep in mind, this is “a very short introduction”). It was also a little concerning to me that the author would talk about how severe addiction can be but in the same breath, mention that a great amount of people recover and never think about their addiction again or go from “problematic use” to “moderate use.” This almost felt like it was downplaying the seriousness of addiction and the hold it can take on many people who fight their entire lives through recovery.
Finally, as a couple other reviewers have mentioned, there was not a single utterance of trauma-informed practice. Which is a pretty huge piece of the addiction treatment puzzle. There was a lot of focus on AA groups and the like, but none about this form of practice that we take entire courses on as students just to be able to practice professionally. I did appreciate the peer support part of the chapter, but I feel like trauma-informed practice was really a major thing to miss in this book.
Anyway, all in all it was solid. I just got a “weird vibe” if I’m being honest. Maybe it was just the style of writing. It was definitely very academic for people who are reading this as just normal people not working in the addictions field, but maybe this is the general style of these books. I guess I will find out as I pick up more of them.
Anyway, onto the review.
This is the first book I have read from this series and I wanted to start with something I knew to judge the scope of what these books covered. Although, it is important to note they are all by different authors as there is not going to be one person who is an expert in all 700+ topics that exist within these books. So that may have been a pointless thought to have anyway.
I will say that there was some good coverage but 99% is focused on substance abuse and addictions to physical substances with a little sprinkle mention of gambling disorder as it is listed in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. The author seems to have a bit of a disbelief in other behavioural addictions, which I suppose can be fair if you look at established research, but being new to this field we are beginning to look a lot into different behavioural addictions other than gambling disorder. The author, for example, does not believe in addictions to things like food because we need food to survive. Although, I have a hard time believing that seeing people in extreme cases (looking at you My 600-lb. Life) and even myself at my highest weight, that a food “addiction” cannot exist. Maybe this is because I had binge eating disorder, and maybe so do the people on TLC, but the way food impacts their life and every waking thought, as well as the way it impacted me, I think the thought of it being an addiction is not completely unreasonable. There may have also been brief mention of online gaming addictions, but not enough so for me to actually remember without going through the book again.
Aside from the lack of information on behavioural addictions, there also did not seem to be a ton of focus on harm reduction. It did get its own section, but it seemed brief for what could have been said (but keep in mind, this is “a very short introduction”). It was also a little concerning to me that the author would talk about how severe addiction can be but in the same breath, mention that a great amount of people recover and never think about their addiction again or go from “problematic use” to “moderate use.” This almost felt like it was downplaying the seriousness of addiction and the hold it can take on many people who fight their entire lives through recovery.
Finally, as a couple other reviewers have mentioned, there was not a single utterance of trauma-informed practice. Which is a pretty huge piece of the addiction treatment puzzle. There was a lot of focus on AA groups and the like, but none about this form of practice that we take entire courses on as students just to be able to practice professionally. I did appreciate the peer support part of the chapter, but I feel like trauma-informed practice was really a major thing to miss in this book.
Anyway, all in all it was solid. I just got a “weird vibe” if I’m being honest. Maybe it was just the style of writing. It was definitely very academic for people who are reading this as just normal people not working in the addictions field, but maybe this is the general style of these books. I guess I will find out as I pick up more of them.
April 23, 2023
One of the issues I typically have with this series of books is that they are too broad in their scope. For this entry, the opposite is true. This should have been titled "substance/drug addiction" because the vast majority of this book was on this subset of addiction and the modern methods of overcoming them. It had very little to do with the science of addiction itself nor examples of addiction that exist outside of substance abuse. So, if that is what you're looking for then it was helpful.
November 9, 2024
This book is exactly what I am looking for: concise but still complete, clear but still nuanced. It may be too academic for certain readers' taste, but I am OK with it.
Other than reminding myself of the harm of addiction, below are a few key things I have learned:
• When we talk about addiction, we are talking about many things, including repeated drug use in face of harm, people's self-report of their mind being consumed by drug use, their experience of dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal. Individually none of these above is addiction. Instead, "Addiction in humans is a hypothesis that a group of things we can observe have an underlying connection, much as there might be a connection under the soil between a group of flowers we can observe above ground." I find this approach that defines a concept as a hypothesis that explains a group of phenomenon inspiring. Perhaps it can also apply to other human condition and behaviors, such as mental diseases, emotions, and romantic love?
• The concept "overdose" refers to acute and dangerous effects of addictive drugs. A more accurate term is “poisoning” because it can happen when people taking their usual or even lower dose. The term "overdosing" gives people a false sense of security, as if they are fine as long as they don't increase drug use. But people may get poisoned if their ability to metabolize the drug decreases due to aging, illness, or exhaustion. Some drug, such as heroine, always carry a risk of poisoning even for usual doses.
• Addictive drugs works by their power but also by their speed of action. They amplify the natural human tendency to value small, immediate rewards over larger but delayed rewards. This is tendency we must be wary of.
• Many people experience withdrawal after they stop using opioids as painkillers, but they do not go on using in an addictive fashion
• "To discount those feelings on the assumption that a rational person should be able to fully control their reactions in light of the brain disease of addiction is internally contradictory: it emphasizes the limits of control over behavior and affect for addicted people, without extending that understanding to the rest of humanity."
• It is controversial whether certain types of behavioral addictions are indeed addictions. One reason is that they do not cause nearly as much harm as drug addiction. For example, "although it’s hard to find people who inject heroin several times a day and are at the same time healthy, happy, and productive, it’s easy to find people who check their iPhone 300 times a day and are all of these things."
Other than reminding myself of the harm of addiction, below are a few key things I have learned:
• When we talk about addiction, we are talking about many things, including repeated drug use in face of harm, people's self-report of their mind being consumed by drug use, their experience of dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal. Individually none of these above is addiction. Instead, "Addiction in humans is a hypothesis that a group of things we can observe have an underlying connection, much as there might be a connection under the soil between a group of flowers we can observe above ground." I find this approach that defines a concept as a hypothesis that explains a group of phenomenon inspiring. Perhaps it can also apply to other human condition and behaviors, such as mental diseases, emotions, and romantic love?
• The concept "overdose" refers to acute and dangerous effects of addictive drugs. A more accurate term is “poisoning” because it can happen when people taking their usual or even lower dose. The term "overdosing" gives people a false sense of security, as if they are fine as long as they don't increase drug use. But people may get poisoned if their ability to metabolize the drug decreases due to aging, illness, or exhaustion. Some drug, such as heroine, always carry a risk of poisoning even for usual doses.
• Addictive drugs works by their power but also by their speed of action. They amplify the natural human tendency to value small, immediate rewards over larger but delayed rewards. This is tendency we must be wary of.
• Many people experience withdrawal after they stop using opioids as painkillers, but they do not go on using in an addictive fashion
• "To discount those feelings on the assumption that a rational person should be able to fully control their reactions in light of the brain disease of addiction is internally contradictory: it emphasizes the limits of control over behavior and affect for addicted people, without extending that understanding to the rest of humanity."
• It is controversial whether certain types of behavioral addictions are indeed addictions. One reason is that they do not cause nearly as much harm as drug addiction. For example, "although it’s hard to find people who inject heroin several times a day and are at the same time healthy, happy, and productive, it’s easy to find people who check their iPhone 300 times a day and are all of these things."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2023
This is a very good book I would suggest to introduce people to the topic, but there were a few things left out I would personally include.
Chapter 1: had no discussion around cravings. What are they and are they always experienced prior to relapse?
Chapter 2: I would have included David Nutt's harms research.
Chapter 3: too many words spent talking about evolution and ancient brains in modern context. More words should have been dedicated to risk factors e.g. CAE.
Chapter 4: I would have expanded the discussion around recovery without treatment. Mentioned things like Vietnam veterns.
If you are looking for a very short introduction to neuroscience of addiction or addiction theories (e.g. incentive sensitisation, habit, choice theory etc) then this book isn't for you as it doesn't cover them at all.
Chapter 1: had no discussion around cravings. What are they and are they always experienced prior to relapse?
Chapter 2: I would have included David Nutt's harms research.
Chapter 3: too many words spent talking about evolution and ancient brains in modern context. More words should have been dedicated to risk factors e.g. CAE.
Chapter 4: I would have expanded the discussion around recovery without treatment. Mentioned things like Vietnam veterns.
If you are looking for a very short introduction to neuroscience of addiction or addiction theories (e.g. incentive sensitisation, habit, choice theory etc) then this book isn't for you as it doesn't cover them at all.
April 25, 2024
A good overview of addiction. The early sections on harms, use and definitions are perhaps less interesting than the later sections on how we should respond to addiction, perhaps reflecting the author's interest and expertise. Nonetheless, it is all clear and authoritative.
One topic missing, and all such books must miss something, is the impact of addiction on low and middle income countries. Particularly when discussing the arguments legalisation, the text implicitly seems only to consider the harms from crime in high income countries and not the damage done to supplier countries by prohibition. That said, the book does also highlight that addiction is changing with some key problems now emerging within rather than outside high income countries.
One topic missing, and all such books must miss something, is the impact of addiction on low and middle income countries. Particularly when discussing the arguments legalisation, the text implicitly seems only to consider the harms from crime in high income countries and not the damage done to supplier countries by prohibition. That said, the book does also highlight that addiction is changing with some key problems now emerging within rather than outside high income countries.
July 12, 2024
Helpful introduction to substance addiction. The theory and background helped me make sense of my observational experience. It has influenced my understanding and opinion of harm reduction practices as well. These little books continue to be gems!
December 22, 2024
Was sort of unimpressed throughout but at the end suddenly thought a lot better of it. A bit pedestrian at times but an interesting third path between stigmatising and permissiveness. Some interesting arguments against legalisation which I’d not heard before.
March 25, 2023
Meh. A basic overview of addiction without a trauma-informed lens that spent way too much talking about AA.
May 29, 2025
This book is exactly what it should be. A concise and clear overview of addiction. Happy to have this on my shelf and hopeful to be able to put the knowledge to use in the real world soon.
August 18, 2023
Great overview of addiction.
December 16, 2024
Great short and to the point
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews