In the realm of hungry ghosts : close encounters with addiction

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: 0307371735
ISBN: 9780307371737
ISBN: 155643880X
ISBN: 9781556438806
ISBN: 1583944206
ISBN: 9781583944202
Physical Description: 1 online resource (471 pages) : illustrations
remote
Publisher: Berkeley, Calif. : North Atlantic Books, ©2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	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.