By Michael Stein
The Addict opens a window at the very inner most international of prescription drug habit, revealing the harrowing and riveting tale of a tender girl whose existence has been taken over by means of an impulse that she cannot regulate and a necessity that she cannot extinguish. Lucy's first appointment with Dr. Michael Stein was once on a sunny day in April, and the minute she sat down she acknowledged, "I'm right here in your program," starting a chain of intimate encounters throughout the process a yr that took her again to the origins of her dependancy and unraveled a existence pushed through compulsion and the consistent pursuit of the subsequent capsule. The Addict follows Lucy from the beginning of her therapy, via relapse, to her eventual long term restoration, together with her breakup with a harmful boyfriend whose personal dependancy to medicines exceeded hers. this is often an unforgettable story of a tender lady residing at the part yet decided to take keep watch over of her lifestyles. right here is also the deeply own account of a physician at the entrance strains of an outbreak. during this masterful paintings, Michael Stein brings in different sufferers whose stories are like Lucy's yet in lots of methods are totally different. Dr. Stein explains what medical professionals are considering and feeling approximately habit, and the way they make tricky judgements with tough sufferers. He additionally goals to alter the way in which we expect approximately dependancy, arguing that it's going to be handled as we deal with diabetes or excessive blood pressure—as a ailment in the scientific approach. This affecting and thought-provoking booklet will resonate with a person suffering from chemical dependence. within the Addict, Dr. Stein creates a portrait of the intimate bond among one sufferer and one health care professional, a dating that's profoundly relocating and tremendously compelling.
Read or Download The Addict: One Patient, One Doctor, One Year PDF
Best addiction & recovery books
At anyone time at the least 5 million humans within the usa are experiencing the indications of Obsessive-Compulsive sickness (OCD), a psychological affliction outlined via recurrent, unwelcome techniques (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that OCD victims consider pushed to accomplish. The OCD solution e-book is an authoritative reference for those adults and their family, offering sound recommendation and rapid solutions to their so much urgent questions.
Publication by way of Lenson, David
Facilitating a Violence Prevention Support Group For Kids Who Bully
Use this source ebook of team actions and lesson plans to assist childrens construct belief and make neighbors. is helping younger scholars outline violence, right competitive habit, and boost assertiveness talents.
Everything Changes: Help for Families of Newly Recovering Addicts
A compassionate, ordinary guide for friends and family navigating the various demanding situations that include a enjoyed one's new-found sobriety. A relative or buddy has eventually taken these tentative first steps towards sobriety. With the relaxation of this life-changing plan of action comes a brand new and tough set of demanding situations for getting better addicts and people who love them.
Additional resources for The Addict: One Patient, One Doctor, One Year
Example text
50 Friday, April 18 Outside in the hall, I heard the soft clicking of computer keys. I heard someone calling for a nurse to perform an EKG. Dan had not yet fled, so I tried to engage him, to draw him out, to learn more about him if he was willing, to treat him humanely, not because I was expected to or should have, not because I agreed to care for every patient who came in with complicated pain issues, but because I wanted to. He was unwell. I did not want to send him off. “I can’t give you any medication until I know a little more about what’s going on with you,” I said.
Before I got sick I liked the feeling of being sort of asleep while I was awake. ” Users have many ways of explaining the beginnings of their problem. She had gotten sick from alcohol and sick from Vicodin and yet continued both. But somewhere before this initial nauseating bodily reaction, the drug of choice always brings a feeling of warmth and protection. I liked the feeling of being sort of asleep while I was awake. Nearly all my patients describe taking drugs as a remedy for some difficulty they didn’t realize they had until they felt better.
His addiction might have begun with a doctor’s prescription, perhaps even after an accident, or he might have started Percocet for pleasure. In either case, Dan had become physically dependent on opiates. He would begin to have opiate withdrawal twelve hours after he ran out of his last pill, and I figured from his pointed request that he had come to my office because his supply was low or gone. As soon as pain is announced, the diagnosis becomes subordinate to helping the patient, regardless of the original reason for his or her physical dependence on opiates; this is where the physician’s task begins and ends.