In the realm of hungry ghosts : close encounters with addiction Cover Image

E-book

In the realm of hungry ghosts : close encounters with addiction / Gabor Maté ; foreword by Peter Levine.

Summary:

" ... This insightful book explores the scientific and psychological causes of addiction, as well as the impact on the addicts treated at the Downtown Eastside Vancouver clinic where Mate is a physician. He widens the lens to address the larger societal problem--speaking also to the risks of more "high-status" addictions, such as wealth, power, and sex. He boldly challenges the War on Drugs, proposing a more holistic, constructive set of alternatives. A riveting, debate-provoking book about an illness that reaches all levels of society, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts provides a much-needed glimpse of hope from an innovator who is taking on addiction with startling clarity, vision, and wisdom"--Page 4 of cover.

Record details

ISBN: 9781583944202
ISBN: 1583944206
Physical Description: 1 online resource (471 pages) : illustrations
Publisher: Berkeley, Calif. : North Atlantic Books, ©2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Author's note -- Preface to the U.S. edition -- Foreword / by Peter Levine -- Hungry ghosts : the realm of addiction -- pt. I : Hellbound train -- The Only home he's ever had -- The Lethal hold of drugs -- The Keys of paradise : addiction as a flight from distress -- You wouldn't believe my life story -- Angela's grandfather -- Pregnancy journal -- Beethoven's birth room -- There's got to be some light -- pt. II : Physician, heal thyself -- Takes one to know one -- Twelve-step journal : April 5, 2006 -- pt. III : A Different state of the brain -- What is addiction? -- From Vietnam to "Rat Park" : do drugs cause addiction? -- A Different state of the brain -- Through a needle, a warm, soft hug -- Cocaine, dopamine, and candy bars : the incentive system in addiction -- Like a child not released -- pt. IV : How the addicted brain develops -- Their brains never had a chance -- Trauma, stress, and the biology of addiction -- It's not in the genes. pt. V : The Addiction process and the addictive personality -- "A Void I'll do anything to avaoid" -- Too much time on external things : the addiction-prone personality -- Poor substitutes for love : behavioral addictions and their origins -- pt. VI : Imagining a humane reality : beyond the war on drugs -- The Social roots of addiction -- Know thine enemy -- "Ignorant fanaticism" : the failed war on drugs -- Freedom of choice and the choice of freedom -- Toward an enlightened social policy on drugs -- Reducing harm -- pt. VII : The Ecology of healing -- The Power of compassionate curiosity -- The Internal climate -- The Four steps, plus one -- Sobriety and the external milieu -- A Word to families, friends, and caregivers -- There is nothing lost : addiction and the spiritual quest -- Memories and miracles : an epilogue -- Postscript -- Appendices -- I : Fallacies of adoption and twin studies -- II : A Close link : attention deficit disorder and addictions -- III : The Prevention of addiction -- IV : The Twelve steps -- Endnotes -- Acknowledgments -- Permissions -- Index -- About the author.
Source of Description Note:	Print version record.