Grab Under The Influence: A Guide To The Myths And Realities Of Alcoholism Articulated By James R. Milam Accessible As Digital

you have an alcoholic in your life and can't understand how or why he/she became that way, or why they can't control it, this book explains the biochemical and metabolic changes that occur in some people under the influence of alcohol in clear language that helps you see that it isn't really their fault.
Priceless information. Speaking of books that age well, this one is nearly as old as I am, but looks much better Alcoholism is a scourge in modern USA but its amazing how socially acceptable, nay, how socially encouraged, it is.
The book has solid research backing its claims on how difficult deaddiction can be, the importance of diet in recovery and the travails of finding social support, Good overview of symptoms, causes and recovery options, More fact focused than narrative focused, but very comprehensive anyway, I have been reading and thinking about sobriety and alcoholism every day for the past five years, and what I enjoyed about this book was that I was learning something new on almost every page.
It achieves so much that most "quitlit" does not ruthlessly honest, wellwritten, useful, and compassionate,

This book is an excellent primer on why most efficient treatment methods and professionals are passionate about the premise that alcoholism is a disease a tangible, physiological difference between an alcoholic and a nonalcoholic that makes the alcoholic insensitive to the physical cues that keep one from drinking heavily and drinking often.


My confession is gasp! I have felt conflicted about the belief that alcoholism is a disease, My own personal experiences support the idea that there was something categorically different between myself and my nonalcoholic peers from my very first drink, What an alcoholic needs is obvious: no more alcohol, Still, recovery is deeply behavioral in its very nature, just as drinking is technically behavior, The genetic differences that so profoundly influenced me to drink excessively are still present and I am at a higher risk to become addicted again than nonalcoholic folks.
Still I am in no way diminishing that for this reason I must stay committed to complete abstinence to be healthy, but it feels strange to consider myself diseased five years into recovery.


So yes. I have never fully understood the sometimes dogmalike attitude that alcoholism is as disease, If you have questions why this is such a prevailing theme among most experts, though, this is absolutely the right book for you, I am wellread on this subject, but no other book has clearly outlinedwhy alcoholism should be considered a diseaseexactly how an alcoholic's body is different preaddiction, during addiction, and during recovery andhow this insight should influence treatment and prevention going forward.


I wish I had read this book earlier on in my recovery I felt perpetually ill for months afterwords and seemed to catch every single cold going around town, and though my doctor, sponsor, and research all agreed that it was normal and to be expected, they had very little to tell me about why that was or what to do about it.
This book reviews extensive research and pares it down beautifully to a brief user's manual,

It also is an extremely powerful and damning analysis of the havoc alcohol wreaks on your body, and why abstinence is the only treatment for the alcoholic.
If you want to make recovery feel more like heaven and less like hell, it is by reflecting on the painful nature of inebriation and addiction versus the pleasure, joy, and growth that being sober has to offer.
One of the key moments

in my own recovery was an exercise that started with me imagining lifeyears,years, andyears into the future what that future would look like if I continued to drink, versus what that future looked like if I committed to abstinence that exercise is detailed in theDay Solution to Sobriety, by Anderson and Canfield.
This book will help you move on from agonizing over how amazing a glass of wine would feel in the here and now, Instead, you'll find yourself thinking of the longterm itemized bill that glass of wine would cost you from the shaky hands and bruised soul the next morning to the future diagnoses you are going to get some day pancreatitis Cirrhosis Cancer

It will also help debunk many of the beliefs that haunt one long after the last drink I don't perform as well, I'm not as funny, I don't have as much fun, I'll feel anxious, I'll teach myself to drink "normally".
This book cites empirical studies to demonstrate that for the most part, these changes in behavior and mood shortlived and overwhelmingly an illusion, particularly for the alcoholic,

So! If my long review hasn't scared you off, I would recommend this book to anyone who:

does not understand or has questions about the premise that alcoholism is a disease
is in the early or middle stages of addiction or any stage of recovery my goodness, how I wish someone had given me this book in the first months
needs accurate and uptodate guidance on the general medical and nutritional needs of an addicted or recovered alcoholic this is surprisingly hard to find, even from one's own doctor!


And here are my caveats:
it is brief this should not be your only resource for something as hefty as alcoholism and recovery
it has very little to say about treatment that the alcoholic is seeking on their own
it is not a helpful guide for the spiritual/mental nourishment and healing that I believe is a crucial part of recovery I recommend AA, TheDay Solution, and/or treatment from a clinical psychologist This book was a real eyeopener.
So much wonderful and helpful information, that it is hard to know how to say READ THIS with enough emphasis if you or anyone you know is either an alcoholic or a alcohol abuser.
This book taught me the difference,

I agree with the review below that an update to this would be fascinating, Considering the endless advances in medicine since this publication in, I'm sure the information would only be strengthened,

I wish I would have read this book years ago,

The only reason I did not give it five is because I want some updated information, New edition please! This book was an eyeopener for me, I vaguely understood that some people become alcoholics, but had no idea what percentage of the general population is actually alcohol dependent, Also, I did not know of the term "problem drinker" before I read this, Only aroundof people are alcoholics, primarily because their liver does not metabolize alcohol correctly, The first few chapters detail this phenomenon, and they are a bit technical frankly, I had to reread them to even begin to grasp what the heck is going on in the liver.
The author repeatedly emphasizes that it is counterproductive to treat alcoholism as the byproduct of mental illness, even if the individual has coexisting psychological issues, In other words, poverty and mental disease do not "turn" people into alcoholics they are susceptible due to genetics or the aforementioned metabolic processing problem or they're not.
He also points out the shortcomings of AA, which does not help people stop drinking, Rather, it helps them remain sober after they are no longer dependent on alcohol,

Milam also explains why maintaining a balanced diet that is lower in carbs and higher in protein is key to the recovering alcoholic, This element is missing from many treatment programs, Apparently, the body takes years to fully recover from alcohol dependence, and individuals may be hypoglycemic as well as psychologically fragile due to the disease's lingering effects for an extended period of time.
I wondered as I read if Milam would give alcoholics a "pass" when it came to owning up to their personal responsibility after diagnosis, He does not: after diagnosis and fully understanding the ramifications of their continued drinking to their own physical and mental health as well as that of others, the alcoholic individual is morally obligated to abstain from alcohol for the rest of his life.
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