_________________________________________________________________ VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 PSYCHNEWS INTERNATIONAL July 2000 -- AN ONLINE PUBLICATION -- _________________________________________________________________ SECTION G: ANNOUNCEMENT -------------------------------------------------------- Note: Please submit all contributions or corrections for the Announcements section to the PsychNews Int'l mailbox: psychnews@psychologie.de -------------------------------------------------------- BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT ADDICTION IS A CHOICE by Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D. Open Court Chicago, Illinois, USA "Herein, Dr. Schaler drives a stake into the heart of the 'disease' concept of addictions. Millions of people have stopped smoking, abusing mind-altering drugs, and drinking addictively on their own, without the intervention of counselors or doctors or programs. Dr. Schaler explains persuasively why and how this happens, despite all the genetic and hormonal predispositions." --JOSEPH GERSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P., Harvard Medical School "This is indeed a rare book. Schaler has produced a unique, masterly work which explains addiction from a revelatory perspective. The reader can learn how the controversial area of addiction can be looked at and understood in a new light." --MORRIS CHAFETZ, M.D., Founding Director, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism "Dr. Schaler has a hard-hitting, no-nonsense style which for me made Addiction Is a Choice a clear and fascinating read. The wealth of information and fresh insights reflect the writer's career as scholar-teacher-therapist, and especially his many years of research and practical work in the addiction field. The book dispels many myths about addiction and should provide liberating insights to the afflicted. It deserves to have a major impact on the way we think and act in our dealings with addictions." --HERBERT FINGARETTE, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara "Addiction Is a Choice" is a powerful antidote against the twin poisons of anti-drug propaganda and drug prohibition." --THOMAS SZASZ, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse "The pendulum has begun its swing back--could it be that drug and alcohol addictions are not diseases after all, but bad personal choices? Can addiction be overcome by mustering the strength of character to turn away from such choices? Psychologist Schaler (Justice, Law, and Society/American Univ.: Smoking: Who Has the Right?, not reviewed) argues convincingly that society has erred in giving in completely to the AA vision that addiction is a disease, that addicts can't help themselves, and that they need a higher power to be saved. Addiction (which at one time meant only devotion or dedication) has come to mean "any activity which individuals engage in, deliberately and consciously, and are physically unable to stop themselves from pursuing." Rejecting such a definition out of hand, Schaler maintains that "people are responsible for their deliberate and conscious behavior." He is sympathetic for those struggling with addiction; he doesn't oversimplify his own or his opponents' arguments; and he readily acknowledges his philosophical forefathers (Thomas Szasz, for one, from the last time the pendulum was at this end of its arc). His reading of the results of research into addiction-that it fails to support the disease model-is convincing. And his resulting suggestions for changes in public policy and for individual change demand consideration. If not a new model for viewing addiction, at least a provocative update of an old one." --KIRKUS REVIEWS, December 15, 1999 Politicians and the media tell us that people who take drugs, including alcohol or nicotine, cannot help themselves. They are supposedly victims of the disease of 'addiction', and they need 'treatment'. The same goes for sex addicts, shopping addicts, food addicts, gambling addicts, or even addicts to abusive relationships. This theory, which grew out of the Temperance movement and was developed and disseminated by the religious cult known as Alcoholics Anonymous, has not been confirmed by any factual research. Numerous scientific studies show that 'addicts' are in control of their behavior. Contrary to the shrill, mindless propaganda of the 'war on drugs', very few of the people who use alcohol, marijuana, heroin, or cocaine will ever become 'addicted', and of those who do become heavy drug users, most will mature out of it in time, without treatment. Research indicates that 'treatment' is completely ineffective, an absolute waste of time and money. Instead of looking at drug addiction as a disease, Dr. Schaler proposes that we view it as willful commitment or dedication, akin to joining a religion or pursuing a romantic involvement. While heavy consumption of drugs is often foolish and self-destructive, it is a matter of personal choice. CONTENTS Preface Introduction 1. Two Ways of Looking at Addiction 2. Is Addiction Really a Disease? 3. Do Drug Addicts Lose It? 4. How Beliefs Affect Reality 5. Where Did the Disease Model Come From? 6. Smoking Right and Responsibility 7. Who Are the Addiction Treatment Providers? 8. Busting the Disease-Model Cult 9. The Project MATCH Cover-up 10. Moderation Management and Murder 11. Thinking Differently about Addiction 12. Addiction Treatment and the First Amendment 13. What to Do about Addiction Bibliography Index Open Court Publishers Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois ISBN 0-8126-9404-X (Paper) $19.95 0-8126-9403-1 (Cloth) $42.95 Distributed by Publishers Group West (1-800-815-2280 toll free order direct) _________________________________________________________________