First published 2019
Addiction affects more than one in five people over fourteen, making it the world's most challenging health crisis. Judith Grisel, a behavioral neuroscientist who recovered from her own addiction, combines rigorous research with personal experience to explain how drugs alter brain function. She reveals a stark truth: addicts can never get enough because the brain adapts to counteract any regular disruption. What starts as normal periods interrupted by highs becomes desperate craving only briefly relieved by the next fix. Grisel examines how different substances work in the brain, from opioids to alcohol to cocaine, and why each proves so difficult to abandon. The brain's infinite capacity to learn and adapt means addicts cannot live comfortably with or without their substance. This understanding of addiction's neurological basis offers readers clearer insight into addictive behavior and points toward more rational and compassionate responses to this epidemic.
Genres: psychology, neuroscience, addiction, medical, non-fiction, health
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-experience, rigorous-research
243 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday
Content warnings: addiction, substance-abuse