Addicted?: Recognizing Destructive Behaviors Before It's Too Late

by Marilyn Freimuth

Overview

Despite our associating addictions with crazy, out of control behavior, most addictions go unrecognized. Those who suffer from addictions often misinterpret their symptoms as a sign of some other problem. Health care professionals who are entrusted by society to identify such problems routinely fail to do so. When addictions are recognized, they are confined to substance use, which overlooks the wide array of activities that engage people in an addictive manner. Further, when addictions are detected, they are in their most advanced and difficult to treat phases. In large part this is due to the all or none way we think about addiction; either you are addicted or not. In reality, an addiction does not emerge fully formed; what starts out as just having fun, gradually, over time, becomes a problem.

To limit the devastation created by late stage addictions and reap the benefits of early detection, this book provides questionnaires that screen for a wide array of chemical and behavioral addictions at all stages of development. Much in the same way we learned the early warning signs of cancer, this book explores different ways to recognize the early and often subtle signs of addiction. Unlike cancer, where people rush to get treatment, facing an addiction is associated with guilt and ambivalence. To navigate these feelings and get help, the book provides a step-by-step guide for how to prepare the addicted person, be it oneself or someone else, to change an addiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742560253
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/29/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Marilyn Freimuth is professor of clinical psychology at the Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, where she specializes in substance abuse diagnosis and addiction treatment. She also maintains a private practice in Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Part I - Getting to Know Addictions Chapter 2 The Problem: Recognizing Addictions When It's Too Late Chapter 3 The New Look of Addictions Chapter 4 The Making of an Addiction Chapter 5 The Continuum: Early to Late Stage Addiction Chapter 6 Addiction's Many Masks Chapter 7 Addiction's Self Disguises Chapter 8 Subtle Signs of Addiction Part 9 Part II - Unmasking Addictions Chapter 10 Unmasking Substance Addictions Chapter 11 Adolescent Substance Abuse: Experimentation or Addiction? Chapter 12 The Unseen Faces of Addiction: Older Adults and Women Chapter 13 Gambling Addiction Chapter 14 Computer Addiction Chapter 15 Sex and Cybersex Addictions Chapter 16 Buying Addiction Chapter 17 Exercise Addiction Part 18 Part III - Getting Help for an Addiction Chapter 19 Unmasking Addictions and Preparing for Change Chapter 20 Impediments to Effective Helping

Editorial Reviews

Addicted? should be required reading for all therapists and everyone who suspects that they or their loved ones might be an addict. If you want to know how to spot an addict, read this book If you want to know the causes and consequences of addiction as well as ways to treat it, read this book. Addicts lead secret, double lives; now, at long last, this book strips off the mask of the addict, strips away the layers of clinical and societal confusion, and speaks the truth about our deeply addicted culture.

Sue William Silverman

Marilyn Freimuth's Addicted? offers an eye-opening survey of addiction, one that thoroughly explores adolescent and adult substance abuse, moving on to such behaviors as buying, computer use, gambling, sex and cybersex, and exercise. The book presents tools for recognizing destructive behaviors, as well as suggestions for help. Using clear examples and powerful resources, Addicted? de-stigmatizes addiction and offers hope for those who struggle, whether adolescent, young adult, aging adult, or concerned friends and family. Addicted? is a book to read at first suspicion, when you may be already wondering how it could have happened.

Chris Volkmann

Addicted: Recognizing Destructive Behavior Before It's Too Late by Marilyn Freimuth, should be first on anyone's list who wonders if a loved one, or even themselves, is showing the first signs of addiction. This book will help distinguish between a bad habit, a compulsion, a good habit and so on.

Citizen Patriot

Despite all the suffering it causes, addiction often remains unrecognized and misunderstood. In her new book, Addicted?” Dr. Freimuth provides a clinically wise approach to figuring out whether you or a loved one suffers with this problem. This book is important and will be of great help to many. I very much recommend it.

Lance Dodes

Addicted? is a guide for taking action against the deception of addiction, while there's still time. A must-read for anyone facing the deception, denial and desperation of addiction.

William Cope Moyers