Understanding Addiction

“Even when presenting more technical information, Lewis shows a keen ability to put a human face on the most groundbreaking research into addiction. Likewise, he manages to make complex findings and theories both comprehensible and interesting.” (Read the rest.)

“What gives Lewis an edge are his impeccable, Oliver Sacks-like case studies sprinkled throughout the book, which demonstrate his understanding of and fascination with the experience of drug users.” (Read the rest.)

“Lewis’s argument is actually fairly simple: The disease theory, and the science sometimes used to support it, fail to take into account the plasticity of the human brain.” (Read the rest.)

“An intellectually authoritative yet controversial declaration that substance and behavioral dependencies are swiftly and deeply learned via the “neural circuitry of desire.”” (Read the rest.)

“As Mr. Lewis stresses throughout this unorthodox but enlightening book, people learn to be addicts, and, with effort, they can learn not to be addicts, too.” (Read the rest.)