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The Addiction Solution: Unraveling the Mysteries of Addiction through Cutting-Edge Brain Science
A revolutionary and empowering paradigm in treating addiction based on groundbreaking new science.
For decades addiction has been viewed and treated as a social and behavioral illness, afflicting people of "weak" character and "bad" moral fiber. However, recent breakthroughs in genetic technology have enabled doctors, for the first time, to correctly diagnose the disease and prove that addiction is an inherited, neuro-chemical disease originating in brain chemistry, determined by genetics, and triggered by stress.
In their groundbreaking The Addiction Solution, David Kipper, MD, and Steven Whitney distill these exciting findings into a guide for the millions of adults who want to be free from the cycle of addiction, and for their loved ones who want to better understand it and to help. It draws on composite case histories to illustrate how the innovative Personal Recovery Program works by customizing treatment for a diverse group of addicts abusing a wide variety of different substances—from the first day of treatment to its successful resolution. The result is a complete guide to a world made brand-new by this enormous paradigm shift in the treatment of addiction.
For decades addiction has been viewed and treated as a social and behavioral illness, afflicting people of "weak" character and "bad" moral fiber. However, recent breakthroughs in genetic technology have enabled doctors, for the first time, to correctly diagnose the disease and prove that addiction is an inherited, neuro-chemical disease originating in brain chemistry, determined by genetics, and triggered by stress.
In their groundbreaking The Addiction Solution, David Kipper, MD, and Steven Whitney distill these exciting findings into a guide for the millions of adults who want to be free from the cycle of addiction, and for their loved ones who want to better understand it and to help. It draws on composite case histories to illustrate how the innovative Personal Recovery Program works by customizing treatment for a diverse group of addicts abusing a wide variety of different substances—from the first day of treatment to its successful resolution. The result is a complete guide to a world made brand-new by this enormous paradigm shift in the treatment of addiction.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 9, 2010
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86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 21, 2015
The Addiction Solution is author Dr. David Kipper's attempt to frame the extremely complex issue of substance dependence in a clear, easy to understand, rational, medically oriented context.
Dr. Kipper attempts to integrate the best of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatry and traditional 12-step approaches.
I can't overstate the importance of this project. Substance dependence and so-called addictive behaviors e.g. compulsive and unhealthy gambling, eating etc. rank amongst our cultures most problematic issues.
There is an enormous need for clear, effective education and interventions for these very costly and very deadly problems.
Based on the amount of money, time and energy spent on treating thees issues and the staggering amount of suffering and death caused when our treatments fail, it's clearly not a stretch to say that our current popular understandings of this issue and treatment methods are insufficient.
Traditional 12-step programs work for some people but are alienating and confusing for others.
The medical approach is reductionistic to the extent that it only targets a sliver of the whole issue.
Cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy can be extremely demanding and often fails to sufficiently motivate people to overcome this incredibly difficult problem.
Haphazardly slamming all of these approaches together can often lead to no better results.
The Addiction Solution is Dr. Kipper's attempt to identify the active ingredients in each approach and integrate them in to a comprehensive treatment program.
Overall, the book is quite good. I've read a lot of these types of books and this one is about as good as any of them. But parts of it left me a little tepid.
I was confused by Dr. Kipper's explanations of the pharmacology of the various drugs of abuse, mostly because they were different (in certain details) than other explanations of the same drugs that I have read in the past. That could mean that every one else is wrong. But I have no way of knowing. The way I'm dealing with that is by keeping an open mind and not investing to heavily in learning the details of this book.
Dr. Kipper's big picture is pretty spot on though, and I will be appropriating aspects of it for my work as an educator and clinician (I teach undergraduate and graduate level substance abuse classes and I'm a therapist at an intensive outpatient recovery clinic in Los Angeles).
Dr. Kipper begins this book with a discussion about homeostasis i.e. the brain and extended nervous systems tendency to return to baseline states of arousal (or lack there of) after being up or down regulated.
Dr. Kipper's assertion is that you can't talk about the issue of addiction with any kind of precision or clarity without understanding homeostasis. After reading this book, I couldn't agree more. So I have decided to reorient my classes and psycho-educational groups in accordance and begin them with a discussion of homeostasis.
Dr. Kipper also does an admirable job of bridging the divide between 12-step and the medical model. That's worth the price tag alone.
Over all, I was very impressed with this book and I recommend it for anyone who needs to understand this issue and or change their addiction behavior.
Dr. Kipper attempts to integrate the best of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatry and traditional 12-step approaches.
I can't overstate the importance of this project. Substance dependence and so-called addictive behaviors e.g. compulsive and unhealthy gambling, eating etc. rank amongst our cultures most problematic issues.
There is an enormous need for clear, effective education and interventions for these very costly and very deadly problems.
Based on the amount of money, time and energy spent on treating thees issues and the staggering amount of suffering and death caused when our treatments fail, it's clearly not a stretch to say that our current popular understandings of this issue and treatment methods are insufficient.
Traditional 12-step programs work for some people but are alienating and confusing for others.
The medical approach is reductionistic to the extent that it only targets a sliver of the whole issue.
Cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy can be extremely demanding and often fails to sufficiently motivate people to overcome this incredibly difficult problem.
Haphazardly slamming all of these approaches together can often lead to no better results.
The Addiction Solution is Dr. Kipper's attempt to identify the active ingredients in each approach and integrate them in to a comprehensive treatment program.
Overall, the book is quite good. I've read a lot of these types of books and this one is about as good as any of them. But parts of it left me a little tepid.
I was confused by Dr. Kipper's explanations of the pharmacology of the various drugs of abuse, mostly because they were different (in certain details) than other explanations of the same drugs that I have read in the past. That could mean that every one else is wrong. But I have no way of knowing. The way I'm dealing with that is by keeping an open mind and not investing to heavily in learning the details of this book.
Dr. Kipper's big picture is pretty spot on though, and I will be appropriating aspects of it for my work as an educator and clinician (I teach undergraduate and graduate level substance abuse classes and I'm a therapist at an intensive outpatient recovery clinic in Los Angeles).
Dr. Kipper begins this book with a discussion about homeostasis i.e. the brain and extended nervous systems tendency to return to baseline states of arousal (or lack there of) after being up or down regulated.
Dr. Kipper's assertion is that you can't talk about the issue of addiction with any kind of precision or clarity without understanding homeostasis. After reading this book, I couldn't agree more. So I have decided to reorient my classes and psycho-educational groups in accordance and begin them with a discussion of homeostasis.
Dr. Kipper also does an admirable job of bridging the divide between 12-step and the medical model. That's worth the price tag alone.
Over all, I was very impressed with this book and I recommend it for anyone who needs to understand this issue and or change their addiction behavior.
September 17, 2015
This was a very intriguing book through about one fourth of it. It gave great facts and everything, but it got too much into case studies rather than the breakdown and science of addiction.
December 27, 2024
Book was organized well and offered a variety of information from neurotransmitters, drugs, and history. My favorite part were the case studies and prognosis at the end of the book going into detail how to treat different substance use disorders. I wish the book went more into the neurotransmitter component of drug mechanisms. Felt it was briefed over and not detailed enough. There was a strange error in the book regarding thiamine labeling it as b6 though I could have sworn it was b1-2 though this could be an error on my end. I enjoyed the ending talking about the conception of 12 steps and the founders story. If you want a book that will teach you the basics and more on drug treatment I would recommend this book to you.
November 13, 2024
This book describes what addiction does and how it connects in the brain at the beginning and then heavily focuses on case studies for each category of addictive substances and goes into more detail of each one. It was very good at helping understand why people become addicted and that’s it’s a genetic predisposition.
October 19, 2023
kinda lost its way but still good
February 14, 2024
This book really broke down what addiction is in many senses, it gave great examples and really opened my eyes to what recovery in the brain looks like in a way that anybody could understand.
December 27, 2011
Very interesting and it seems to make intuitive sense. After all, how many intelligent, funny, etc. etc. people have you known that had a monkey on their back they just couldn't shake. I find it very interesting that he can predict what one's genetic abnormality will be given an addict's choice of drugs.
May 20, 2011
I saw Dr Kipper speak on this book. I picked up a copy and loved the style in which it was written.
June 3, 2013
Excellent...
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May 19, 2016Gives another look at addiction. Addiction is a medical disease.
January 20, 2017
i liked about the first fourth of this - skimmed the rest
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews