Addicted to Life & Death: Memoirs of an EMT & Deputy Coroner

Addicted to Life & Death: Memoirs of an EMT & Deputy Coroner
Author: Janice Ballenger
Publisher: Masthof Press & Bookstore
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2008-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1601261438

When Janice Ballenger joined a volunteer rescue company, she began keeping a journal, and clipping news articles about the calls she responded to. Now, as an EMT and deputy coroner, she has seen, smelled and touched things most people have difficulty just hearing about. With the thought of "There's nothing worse that I can see," she continued her job. The Nickel Mines Amish School shootings in October 2006, changed that, when a milk truck driver shot ten Amish girls, and killed himself. Read her story as one of the few people who entered the schoolhouse with the bodies inside. (286pp. Masthof Press, 2008.)

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain
Author: Marc Lewis
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0385669267

A gripping, ultimately triumphant memoir that's also the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the neuroscience of addiction written for the general public. FROM THE INTRODUCTION: "We are prone to a cycle of craving what we don't have, finding it, using it up or losing it, and then craving it all the more. This cycle is at the root of all addictions, addictions to drugs, sex, love, cigarettes, soap operas, wealth, and wisdom itself. But why should this be so? Why are we desperate for what we don't have, or can't have, often at great cost to what we do have, thereby risking our peace and contentment, our safety, and even our lives?" The answer, says Dr. Marc Lewis, lies in the structure and function of the human brain. Marc Lewis is a distinguished neuroscientist. And, for many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a series of dangerous substances, from LSD to heroin. His narrative moves back and forth between the often dark, compellingly recounted story of his relationship with drugs and a revelatory analysis of what was going on in his brain. He shows how drugs speak to the brain - which is designed to seek rewards and soothe pain - in its own language. He shows in detail the neural mechanics of a variety of powerful drugs and of the onset of addiction, itself a distortion of normal perception. Dr. Lewis freed himself from addiction and ended up studying it. At the age of 30 he traded in his pharmaceutical supplies for the life of a graduate student, eventually becoming a professor of developmental psychology, and then of neuroscience - his field for the last 12 years. This is the story of his journey, seen from the inside out.

Pill Head

Pill Head
Author: Joshua Lyon
Publisher: Hachette Books
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2009-07-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1401394493

This compelling, honest book investigates the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse among today's Generation Rx. Through gripping profiles and heartbreaking confessions, this memoir dares to uncover the reality -- the addiction, the withdrawal, and the recovery -- of this newest generation of pill poppers. Joshua Lyon was no stranger to substance abuse. By the time he was seventeen, he had already found sanctuary in pot, cocaine, Ecstasy, and mushrooms -- just to name a few. Ten years later, on assignment for Jane magazine, he found himself with a two-inch-thick bottle of Vicodin in his hands and only one decision to make: dispose of the bottle or give in to his curiosity. He chose the latter. In a matter of weeks he'd found his perfect drug. In the early half of this decade, purchasing painkillers without a doctor was as easy as going online and checking the spam filter in your inbox. The accessibility of these drugs -- paired with a false perception of their safety -- contributed to their epidemic-like spread throughout America's twenty-something youth, a group dubbed Generation Rx. Pill Head is Joshua Lyon's harrowing and bold account of this generation, and it's also a memoir about his own struggle to recover from his addiction to painkillers. The story of so many who have shared this experience--from discovery to addiction to rehabilitation -- Pill Head follows the lives of several young people much like Joshua and dares to blow open the cultural phenomena of America's newest pill-popping generation. Marrying the journalist's eye with the addict's mind, Joshua takes readers through the shocking and often painful profiles of recreational users and suffering addicts as they fight to recover. Pill Head is not only a memoir of descent, but of endurance and of determination. Ultimately, it is a story of encouragement for anyone who is wrestling to overcome addiction, and anyone who is looking for the strength to heal.

Mastering the Addicted Brain

Mastering the Addicted Brain
Author: Walter Ling, MD
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2017-07-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1608685004

For anyone trying to overcome an addiction, living with someone with an addiction, or helping someone with an addiction As most drug and alcohol addicts eventually realize, good intentions alone aren’t enough to break destructive habits. However, addiction can be managed once its true nature is understood. This simple yet profound guidebook takes you step-by-step through the process of building a life after addiction by adopting new behaviors that create lasting change. An internationally renowned psychiatrist, neurologist, and addiction specialist, Dr. Walter Ling has worked with thousands of addicts, their loved ones, and fellow clinicians. His no-nonsense, no-judgment approach, which he calls the “neuroscience of common sense,” advocates holistic methods to prevent relapse and establish new patterns to create a sustainable, meaningful life.

Addicted to the Monkey Mind

Addicted to the Monkey Mind
Author: Jean-Francois Benoist
Publisher: Power-On Coaching IncorporatedDBA Pakalana Publishing
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2018-09-14
Genre: Happiness
ISBN: 9780692978597

Addicted to the Monkey Mind offers a toolbox of practical skills to shift self-sabotaging, programmed ways of thinking. J.F. Benoist, a visionary thought leader in the fields of addiction treatment and personal development, uses the journeys of two relatable characters to teach you how to develop a powerful new mindset and finally break the cycle of debilitating habits.

Diary of a Drug Addict

Diary of a Drug Addict
Author: Stephen E. Crockett
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2017-10-29
Genre:
ISBN: 9781979273862

A heroin addict looks back over a life of misery and addiction. From his earliest days experimenting with "gateway drugs" to his spiraling descent, through every available illegal drug - into the hell of heroin addiction. He gets pushed by his addiction to heroin from a manageable addiction that he can control, through the loss of everything he owns and holds near and dear to his life. Heroin becomes his ever-present companion and over the years it turns him into a homeless, jobless heroin addict living under a downtown highway bridge. At his lowest, suicide seems to be the only way out, but when he finally hits rock bottom he realizes that in the mess, the muck and the blood that his life has become, salvation may still be possible. If only he can stay away from the needle and be as successful sober as he had been as a drug addict.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
Author: Gabor Maté, MD
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1583944206

A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.

Dopamine Nation

Dopamine Nation
Author: Dr. Anna Lembke
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2023-01-03
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1524746746

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER “Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick, as heard on Fresh Air This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption. In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

Addiction

Addiction
Author: June Ariano-Jakes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2016-04-04
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 9780986701320

Addiction: A Mother's Story follows the 23 year heroin and cocaine addiction of her deeply loved son through the eyes of his mother. It includes stories of all the various "players" that make up the world of drug use and the dramatic consequences of drug addiction within a family.

Might Bite

Might Bite
Author: Patrick Foster
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1472992148

'An electrifying account of gambling addiction ... compelling' The Times 'Searingly honest ... should be in the hands of anyone who has eyed a bet' Daily Mail 'A remarkable piece of work' The Cricketer 'Compulsive' The i 'An in-depth testimony' Daily Telegraph 'An extraordinary story ... vital stuff' Adrian Chiles, BBC Radio 5 Live 'A no-holds-barred journey through gambling addiction and into the hope of recovery' Paul Merson 'Patrick's story will stop you in your tracks' Sam Billings, England cricketer The unputdownable story of a life shattered by a secret gambling addiction – and an uplifting tale of recovery. With a foreword by Marcus Trescothick. For more than 12 years, Patrick Foster lived a double life. Turning 31, a popular and sociable young teacher and former professional cricketer, he had a lovely girlfriend and a supportive family. But he was hiding a secret and debilitating gambling addiction from even those closest to him. Huge bets had led to huge debts, thousands of lies, and consequences for his mental health that pushed him to the edge of the platform at Slough station, where he was moments from taking his own life in March 2018. That month Patrick had turned a £30 bet into £28,000, then lost £50,000 on a single horse, Might Bite, in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, watching the race in a silent classroom as his students undertook a mock exam in front of him. In his desperation, he had taken out every possible loan, and borrowed money from family, friends and even the parents of children he taught. Although his life was unravelling around him, he could not stop. You might think that this is just one man's story. But problem gambling affects one in 200 people in the UK alone. Hundreds lose their lives annually as a result. The industry is worth more than £14 billion. Might Bite is a shocking, cautionary tale of just how easy it is to fall victim to the insidious lure of 'winning big'. And of how recovery is possible from the depths of addiction, no matter how inescapable it seems. 'As a society, we are only just getting to grips with gambling addiction. Patrick Foster is a trailblazer. His work will help many.' Marcus Trescothick