Status Updates From Unbroken Brain: A Revolutio...

Insightful, impactful, and resourceful.

Similar to Marc Lewis's The Biology of Desire.
Strong introduction. I'm excited for this one that came recommended by a friend.

“If being broken down by despair was going to end my addiction, this is when it should have done so. However, the disgrace of my arrest and incarceration did not push me to seek recovery; it only made the craving worse. Shame and guilt didn’t provide me any new tools that would allow me to change. Without a clue as to alternate ways of coping, I couldn’t see any way out.”

“This is why, no matter how many times the media panics over a new drug that’s ‘more addictive than heroin’ where ‘one hit gets you hooked for life,’ the majority of people who use it don’t become addicted. People with decent jobs, strong relationships, and good mental health rarely give that all up for intoxicating drugs; instead, drugs are powerful primarily when the rest of your life is broken.”

yikes not the author saying people “are obese” because they are literally addicted to “junk food” girl what the fuck

Really good books with a twist on current thinking and her defense. I liked it! Made good sense

What an amazing book! Harm reduction and viewing addiction as a learning disorder have become a newly ignited passion of mine. I recommend this book to any lawmakers, psychologists, addicts, or the likes of those three.

Skidam se sa šećera dok čitam ovo po preporuci. Autorka tvrdi da su bolesti zavisnosti zapravo poremećaji u učenju što je svakako zanimljiv pogled na stvari, međutim knjiga je prilično autobiografska i autorkini doživljaji nemaju funkciju ilustracije neke studije, a događaji su prilično dosadni iako uključuju kokain i heroin.

2x reading it 🙌🏻🙌🏻🔥🔥

In fact, research suggests that the supportive community that 12-step programs provide is the main active ingredient in their success, when they work. The data are clear that social support aids both mental and physical health - and that people with more of it are much more likely to recover.

Addiction is a learning disorder in part because of the way it affects both the habituation and sensitization processes and also skews them. "Wanting" for a drug is sensitized and attention is drawn to drug-related cues far out of proportion to their value. "liking" however, falls prey to tolerance, meaning that the joy leaches out of the drug experience and even other pleasures become muted.

Addiction is, first and foremost, a relationship between a person and a substance, not an inevitable pharmacological reaction.

Fascinating concepts!

In support of harm reduction approaches: "In alcohol policy, harm reduction...has long been both successful and relatively uncontroversial. The 'designated driver' is a harm reduction approach...campaigns that criminalize or stigmatize taking the wheel while drunk do not argue that drinking itself is wrong."

...I've tried to add two updates, but apparently they haven't taken bc of the character limit. Hooray intermittent reinforcement?

from p 135: "By itself, nothing is addictive; drugs can only be addictive in the context of set, setting, dose, dosing pattern, and numerous other personal, biological, and cultural variables. Addiction isn't just taking drugs. It is a pattern of learned behavior."

Great writing. I like how she switches between her own experience and research. This makes the book personal, easy to read (and not get stuck in with too much data). Many of her arguments are ones I have heard before it recognized myself after working on mental health myself. Many stigmas remain because most of us are unaware of how they became that way. Thus far, I recommend this book.

Amazing perspective on addiction so far. I teach and do therapy from a disease therapy model and this only enhances it with a developmental disorder perspective.

I want to love this book. And I also hate some of the authors comments and inferences.

I am intrigued by some of the ideas, so I really want to read this. At the same time, I have already had two "ready to throw the book against the wall" moments, and I am only 9 pages in. Not sure how this will go.

Very interesting and insightful.

Very interesting and insightful.

The neuroscience aspect is interesting, but I'm disturbed by the animal testing referenced in these studies, and I'm not a big fan of the parts that are more of a memoir. It seems really important she let us know what an exceptional and gifted child she was, and I also don't give a shit that she did her first lines of cocaine with members of The Grateful Dead.

One of the best books I have ever read!

While addiction can certainly strike people of any class, the risk is higher at the bottom because of the way low social or economic status increases stress. If you are bullied and berated and made constantly aware of just how far down the social scale you are, (the risks) are magnified."

' At least two-thirds of addicted people have suffered at least one extremely traumatic experience in childhood—and the higher exposure to trauma, the greater the addiction risk... Substance use is just one of the many ways that people learn to cope."

This is extraordinary. Showing addiction as a learning disorder/developmental disability releases the addict from blame and opens the door to learning new ways to cope with trauma, new behaviors to escape from the cyclical nature and shame of addiction. I am so grateful for this author and her vital work.

I wish this were a little less about the author herself and a little more about her ideas regarding addiction.

I'm trying to gain some insight and understanding.