Diseasing of America: How We Allowed Recovery Zealots and the Treatment Industry to Convince Us We Are Out of Control

by Stanton Peele

A Controversial Argument Against the Disease Theory of Addiction Diseasing of America is a powerful and controversial rebuttal to the "addiction as disease model" that many vested interests-including doctors, counselors, psychologists, treatment centers, and twelve-step programs that specialize in addiction treatment-don't want you to read."I found the arguments in Diseasing of America persuasive and carefully documented. While I find current addiction-treatment models helpful, I think it is critical to look at Stanton Peele's work to question our fundamental assumptions and adjust them on the basis of data."-Jennifer P. Schneider, author of Back From Betrayal and Sex, Lies, and Forgiveness, and member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine"A provocative review of the uses and abuses of the disease model in the past three decades. This important book has significantly added to my education and clinical understanding of addiction in my professional practice."-Richard R. Irons, M.D., The Menninger Clinic

Genres: Psychology, Addiction, Nonfiction, Health, Mental Health

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stanton Peele, The Diseasing of America 2/E (Lexington, 1995)

There are two types of people in the world: those the recovery zombies have already attacked, and those they will. It doesn't matter if you don't drink and don't smoke, they'll find something else about which you're "diseased"-- perhaps you enjoy shopping, you like to eat, you spend a couple of weekends per year in Vegas. Did you know these are all symptoms of diseases? Oh, you didn't? Well, they are. Don't believe it? You must be in denial. Here, let us help you lead a more well-adjusted life.

Peele seeks atonement for starting this craze with his book Love and Addiction in 1984. (As a side note, the one important thing Peele does NOT try to atone for is his almost singlehanded corruption of the definition of the term "addiction," which he misuses throughout the book; when reading it, you might be better served by substituting the word "compulsion" every time you see "addiction." Addiction requires, by definition, a physical component, and thus it is impossible to be addicted to most of the things that Peele admits are really addictive.) He does this by stating in no uncertain terms that the addiction/recovery industry has gotten way out of hand, then spends the next two hundred fifty pages outlining one of the scariest stories I've ever read-- the sixty-year history of the recovery industry, beginning with the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935.

Along the way, Peele stops on occasion to point out some obvious factors we tend to overlook in our quest for political correctness (e.g. the race- and class-based aspects of alcoholism, which are blatantly obvious to the eye but resisted by the mind thanks to decades of being told that alcoholism has nothing to do with class or race). While he occasionally slips into the same crevasse he's trying to close by citing statistics without backing them up, the majority of what he gives us is surrounded with footnotes and citations, important when you're accusing those around you of pulling their figures out of thin air.

Some of Peele's ultimate conclusions should be taken with at least a grain of salt (he could have done himself a couple better by continuing his questioning to its ultimate conclusion, rather than stopping a step short and wholeheartedly endorsing the "family values" idea, which may need questioned even more than

AA's dogma), but that doesn't make the research any less valuable. In a society where "innocent until proven guilty" is a the rule, anyone who expects their word to be treated as gospel and makes sweeping statements only needs one person to find fault with one supposed "fact" they spout. Peele has found a lot of faults with a lot of facts in the original AA dogma, and shows us exactly how the most distorted pieces of the AA marketing scheme have been used to create and power the larger recovery industry in America today.

They will come after you. The faster you read this book, and the longer you spend absorbing its contents, the better-armed you'll be when someone accuses you of "addictive" (actually, compusive) behavior. While I can't give the book five stars thanks to Peele's wimping out in the last chapter, this is certainly a life-changer, and one of the most important books that's ever crossed my path. I strongly urge everyone I know to read this as quickly as possible. **** 1/2

[Ade Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written some ime ago and dealing with the USA, Peele's message is even more relevant today. Extrapo;ating claims of the addictions industrusties it would seem that there is a larger population of addicts in America than there is a population of people! We are all supposed to be addicts now, all victims of genetic or biological or brain disease. We all need help, and we will pay good money for it.

Addictio as a disease is a myth. Peele shows why. Throw away your snake oil. charms, higher powers amd live with yourself as a responsible agent.

[Lukas Szrot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a breath of fresh air, a truly consciousness-raising book about how behavior problems being labeled diseases is both impeding our ability to deal with them and thwarting individual senses of efficacy and accountability. To believe for example, that a person who drinks too much has a bad habit and should abstain or cut down rather than saddling them with the label 'alcoholic' and declaring that because they drink too much at this point in their lives they have a chronic, progressive illness and must attend 'treatment' and seek a spiritual awakening to cope. This is not merely bad science. It is bad judgment, and ignores or downplays the fact that we as sentient beings have a choice. We are responsible for our actions, and how they affect us and others as social creatures and members of a community.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched, well-thought-out, well-written book takes issue with some of the destructive ideas salted away inside the Twelve-Step philosophy. A very empowering read with major policy implications.

[Michael T. McComb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stanton does a great job of opening your eyes to the broken addiction recovery system in place here in the United States.

[Grant Goad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not one to leave reviews but I believe this book deserves it. As a fish swimming in the river of modernity - I held to many presumptions regarding medicine, the chemical imbalance theory, and 12 step programs (AA and CR to name a few). This book opened my mind to the idea that maybe what I believe to be true isn’t. This book is crucial for those who dare to ask for evidence and refuse unproven theory to be gospel.

[Travis Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great view point on addiction and behavior

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it transformed the way I view alcoholism.
I have a new understanding now of causes of behaviors and a new philosophy on how to deal with my problems. I see the negative impact of categorizing so many of our behaviors as diseases.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent, thought provoking book dealing with the difficult issue of addiction & how to think about it & deal with it. Valuable read.

[C]

An important landmark from the moderate wing of the "anti-addiction" thinkers arising in the 1980s. For me, Peele's "Meaning of Addiction" is better, clearer, more efficient.

[Heidi Leatherland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Ellis Amdur · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indictment of the current common “wisdom” that deviant behavior – drug and alcohol addiction, gambling, overeating, too much or the wrong kind of sex, even crime – is a disease. The book is somewhat dated - but still relevant, as this false epidemic, which defines people as helpless against their desires and compulsions is all the more prevalent today.

[Gia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the fourth book by Stanton Peele saying the same thing and making the same claims. It's hard to argue with the millions of people who have achieved sobriety through AA, but he continues to try. I'd like to see scientific, quantitative research from his next.

[Deborah Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, I just keep bumping it to read other things...
Excellent book with dynamic, practical points-