Addiction Is a Choice

by Jeffrey A. Schaler

Book Overview

Written for both lay and professional readers, this book offers new approaches to understanding addiction and the public policies necessary to successfully battle its detrimental effects on society.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081269404X
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Open Court Publishing
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Schaler is Right

I was intrigued with Dr. Schaler's theme, and had wanted to buy this book previously but had even more of a reason to after I found out two people I know and care for had abused alcohol. Essentially, Dr. Schaler's thesis is that its not alcohol or substances (like drugs) that entice people to abuse them, its the people themselves who use them end up abusing them by choice. Oft times, Schaler points out, people will turn to booze or drugs in order to escape the problems they face rather than deal with them. Himself a psychologist and teacher by trade, Schaler is not saying that people who abuse substances don't deserve compassion, support, help or guidance. However, he is saying that people need to be taught they are responsible individuals and their self-confidence needs to be reinforced so they are not dependent on others for treatment. They have the will power to stop the destructive behavior(s) they are participating in. While I found his accusations of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) being a religious cult a little far-fetched, I do think that his analysis of the failures of AA's treatment program and the history of the group are accurate. Unfortunately, groups like AA and the 'treatment industry' use the 'victim' or 'devil-made-me-do-it' mentality as a reason to get people to rely soley on them for ending a person's abuse of things like narcotics and alcohol while breeding endless amounts of helpless victims. More often than not, Schaler says, people can overcome their problems and dump their abuse of substances. But in order to face life's difficulties people need to take responsibility. If they do not, they can excuse almost anything by claiming to be a victim. As a former smoker who quit 'cold turkey' over 19 years ago, I completely agree. If you are curious about what alternatives there are to AA, I know a few people who have used Objectivism to helped them to successfully stop smoking, abusing alcohol or overeating. If Objectivism isn't your 'cup of tea' an excellent book that is out called "Rational Recovery" by Jack Trimpey or books written by Stanton Peele. Both Peele and Trimpey emphasize self-recovery with planned, permanent abstinence.

Addiction is a Choice Successfully Challenges Disease Theory

"Addiction Is a Choice," by Jeffrey Schaler, is a refreshing look at a subject endlessly discussed in today's media. Open a newspaper or a magazine today and you are likely to see at least one article on the horrors of drug addiction, and how this terrible "disease" strikes people down, leaving them sick for life, with no chance for anything but a temporary remission. This sort of drivel fuels the Drug War. The idea that prohibition is necessary because "once someone makes the decision to use an illegal drug all capacity for rational thought disappears and force is the only thing that will save them" is so often repeated that it is accepted by a large number of the public who ought to know better. Jeff Schaler does know better and makes his point effectively.Schaler tells the frightening story of a teenage girl, brought to him by her mother. The girl was suspended from school and had been in trouble for drug use. The parents were worried. She had been to another doctor, but she continued to use drugs. She had been told that she suffered from the disease of drug addiction and felt helpless and depressed. Schaler told her that addiction was a choice and she had control over her life. The girl believed him and, during treatment, took back control of her life and stopped using drugs. Then, to avoid the peer pressure in public high school to take drugs, she applied to a special school for students who had used drugs. The principal would not admit the girl to the school because the principal believed that the girl was in denial about her "disease."Schaler spells out the dangers of adhering to the disease model of addiction. "Teaching people in `treatment' for addiction problems that they `don't know they have a problem' may create a problem for them," he writes. "Teaching them that they cannot control themselves may convince them that they cannot control themselves. Teaching them to believe that `treatment is the only solution to their problem' may persuade them that they cannot solve problems on their own. It reinforces dependency...""Addiction Is a Choice" looks like any one of a number of "self help" books on the market, but it certainly doesn't read like them. It tears apart the victim rhetoric so prevalent in today's discussions about addiction, but in a calm, non-threatening way. Schaler sounds as though he's probably as good a psychologist as he is a writer. Understanding the nature of addiction is imperative if we are ever going to deal sensibly with drug use in America. This book does much to help us in that quest.

Dr. Schaler busts myth of disease model

Anyone concerned about addiction needs to seriously look at this book. Dr. Schaler picks apart the disease model of addiction. This book is a thoughtful journey exploring the myth of the disease model of addiction. Here, Dr. Schaler explores the cults of AA and NA showing how religion and psychotherapy have intertwined in such a way as to take unsuspecting members down a terrible road. These cults remove a person's liberty by diminishing their responsibility for their actions. These cults attempt to replace a person's "addiction to drugs" with an "addiction to religion." The reader clearly sees these programs forcing people to believe they have no control over their lives and put their lives in the hands of a "higher power." A program designed to teach a person to allow some abstract "Supreme Being" to guide them to recovery. It is truly scary and disgusting when you see it in the moral and ethical spotlight that Dr. Schaler shines on these programs. We see how the "War on Drugs" is really a "War on People."Before anyone considers a program for drug-related problems, read this book!

Excellent

This book dispels many myths about addiction, such as the disease model, which asserts that someone "loses volition" while addicted. As this book rightly points out, people are quite rationally and deliberately able to go to great lengths to obtain more of their "addictions", something which wouldn't be possible if they really were "involuntary", such as a reflex or a seizure. As such, the disease model has no scientific basis.The book rightly points out that the current models of addiction are tied to our current war on drugs, and thus date back to the Temperance movement.The addiction treatment industry, psychiatry and psychotherapy, and the War on Drugs, are like three members of a love triangle, all threatening personal freedom and individual liberty (even the freedom to think for oneself). This book doesn't use this metaphor, but mentions all three points.The book is humane and compassionate towards people who have become addicted to harmful mind-altering drugs. But unlike most current treatment methods, which focus on punishing the addictive behavior itself, this book rightly focuses on "problems of living" which lead to the drug use in the first place. The author rightly points out that punishing an addict for drug use, while not helping to address the underlying problems which led to the addiction in the first place, will not stop the addiction -- it merely replaces it with another one, such as an addiction to 12-step meetings, or an addiction to anti-drug crusades.The author cites an example of a former teenage addict who was shocked at first, but later relieved, when the author didn't quote treatment industry dogma to her, like all of her former counselors did. He also didn't focus on her addictive behavior, but instead, addressed her problems of living -- problems which led to the addiction in the first place. What a radical concept! The author advocates complete legalization of drugs, but does not condone their unmoderated use, and fully supports prosecution of offenses committed while under the influence (such as driving under the influence, or murder).In one of the chapters, the author makes some non-sequitor arguments in favor of mind-brain duality, but this is easily overlooked.The author questions "either-or" thinking of AA and other recovery groups towards alcoholism and addiction generally, pushing instead for moderation.This book empowers the individual to make decisions regarding addiction (and everything else), questioning popular opinion which tends to deny choice, and thus denies all freedom and responsibility to the individual, leaving it all up to the state or to the treatment industry.Too bad the ideas in this book are not accepted more widely, because it would really help curb the "drug problem". It is a refreshing change, in a culture "addicted to addiction treatment".

Forget Everything you Learned in School

Dr. Schaler has produced an interesting work which casts serious doubts on the concept of addiction as a disease. Schaler discusses the fictional basis for the disease model and the folly of the "War on Drugs." It becomes clear early on in this book that "addiction" was not discovered, but invented to serve the interests of religion, of the state, and of the medical establishment. This book is very easy to read because it does not get bogged down in details about addiction studies (although many he references are worth tracking down). I would recommend this to advocates of either side of the issue and advise the reader to keep an open mind.