"Victoria is the perfect fit to write this because of her personal journey to overall health and healing since childhood. She's overcome Tourette's Syndrome, severe and painful skin issues, hormone imbalances, and more. She has a unique and empathic coaching approach with her clients who struggle with the damage and destruction that come with food addiction; and at the same time is able to help so many learn about the incredible impacts of food as fuel and medicine." - Dr. Jaime Parker, Associate Director, Wellness Council of Arizona "This topic immediately caught my attention! When does the obsession to be healthy become unhealthy? I am intrigued to learn more for myself and also I am excited to share this important information with the large community of diverse women within our studios." - Kimberlee White, Co-Founder Jabz Boxing Fitness for Women "I have been very open about my addictions to health which led me into eating disorders and obsessive behavior. I think many of us go to the extreme when it comes to health where it no longer works in our favor mentally or emotionally. I am anticipating this book and feel it will help so many that are between two worlds and needing assistance and guidance." - Violette de Alaya, Founder & CEO of FemCity(R) "Victoria has been an ongoing contributor to Sass Magazine, answering each of our requests for her unique content - she is someone who can certainly write, and write well, on demand. She has a wholistic approach to health, wellness, nutrition, and how it impacts everyday aspects of human life. She expresses this perspective in her work. It is her ability to uniquely embrace the complexities of overall health and wellness - that so many of us find it easier to shy away from - that have made her a coveted writer for Sass. She is no doubt the author to have for such a nuanced topic as addiction to health." -Gel Derossi, Sass Magazine Digital Manager --- Addicted to Health teaches the steps to change how we view health and find lasting freedom without obsession or punishment. In a world where everyone is aiming to find the perfect solution to their health problems, what happens when we go too far? Healthy living is incredibly important; however, anything deemed as "healthy" is often seen as negative, too difficult to make a part of your lifestyle, or too confusing to know what to do and who to trust. This is NOT what "healthy" should look like for anyone. It's time to redefine health culture and to walk in lasting freedom and joy with God in your health. This book gives specific steps for how you can experience personal freedom, lasting transformation, and constant joy in your health journey. This book aims to show you practical ways to choose joy, freedom and peace in every step of your health journey; to become addicted to health in a way that allows you to experience radical transformation in your life as well as in the lives of others.

Almost Addicted will help you assess your or your loved one's drug use and evaluate its impact on relationships, work, and personal well-being. Do you think your pot smoking is hindering your relationships? Does it feel as if you're just a tad too dependent on the pills your doctor prescribed for pain? Almost Addicted will help you assess your or your loved one's drug use and evaluate its impact on relationships, work, and personal well-being.Most people who abuse illegal drugs don't fit the image of the dysfunctional, hustling addict who can't fit into normal society. Between the estimated 10 percent of the population who are true addicts and those who don't use drugs at all falls a group of regular drug users who oftentimes don't realize how much their use is affecting their daily lives.According to J. Wesley Boyd, MD, of Harvard Medical School, and Eric Metcalf, MPH, these people are almost addicted. Whether their drug of choice is legal or illegal, an upper or a hallucinogen, an almost addicts' drug use is negatively impacting their quality of life--but falls short of meeting the diagnostic criteria for substance abuse or dependence.For the first time, Boyd and Metcalf describe what it is to be almost addicted and provide almost addicts and their loved ones with the knowledge and guidance to address and evaluate their condition. In this book, readers will find the tools toidentify and assess their patterns of drug use;evaluate its impact on relationships, work, and personal well-being;develop strategies and goals for abstaining from or cutting back on drugs;measure the results of applying these strategies; andmake informed decisions about next steps, including getting professional help if needed.

All across the United States, individuals, families, communities, and health care systems are struggling to cope with substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Substance misuse and substance use disorders have devastating effects, disrupt the future plans of too many young people, and all too often, end lives prematurely and tragically. Substance misuse is a major public health challenge and a priority for our nation to address. The effects of substance use are cumulative and costly for our society, placing burdens on workplaces, the health care system, families, states, and communities. The Report discusses opportunities to bring substance use disorder treatment and mainstream health care systems into alignment so that they can address a person's overall health, rather than a substance misuse or a physical health condition alone or in isolation. It also provides suggestions and recommendations for action that everyone-individuals, families, community leaders, law enforcement, health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers-can take to prevent substance misuse and reduce its consequences.

This book uses composite clinical examples and the authors' own practical experience to demonstrate how to treat addicted survivors of trauma and abuse. By integrating mental health paradigms with disease models of addiction, and combining psychotherapeutic techniques with 12-step recovery practices, the authors present an easy-to-replicate model for assessment and treatment. They provide an overview of the various types and resulting effects of childhood abuse and other traumas, and then describe the disease of addiction and its treatment. Simultaneously addressing both addiction and survivor issues, the book describes ways to identify and assess substance-dependent survivors, and organize, direct, and plan their treatment. In addition, it provides specific strategies for working with significant others, adolescents, and individuals who also exhibit antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders. This book is aimed at psychologists, chemical dependency counselors, social workers, and family therapists.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a renowned behavioral neuroscientist and recovering addict, a rare page-turning work of science that draws on personal insights to reveal how drugs work, the dangerous hold they can take on the brain, and the surprising way to combat today's epidemic of addiction. Judith Grisel was a daily drug user and college dropout when she began to consider that her addiction might have a cure, one that she herself could perhaps discover by studying the brain. Now, after twenty-five years as a neuroscientist, she shares what she and other scientists have learned about addiction, enriched by captivating glimpses of her personal journey. In Never Enough, Grisel reveals the unfortunate bottom line of all regular drug use: there is no such thing as a free lunch. All drugs act on the brain in a way that diminishes their enjoyable effects and creates unpleasant ones with repeated use. Yet they have their appeal, and Grisel draws on anecdotes both comic and tragic from her own days of using as she limns the science behind the love of various drugs, from marijuana to alcohol, opiates to psychedelics, speed to spice. With more than one in five people over the age of fourteen addicted, drug abuse has been called the most formidable health problem worldwide, and Grisel delves with compassion into the science of this scourge. She points to what is different about the brains of addicts even before they first pick up a drink or drug, highlights the changes that take place in the brain and behavior as a result of chronic using, and shares the surprising hidden gifts of personality that addiction can expose. She describes what drove her to addiction, what helped her recover, and her belief that a “cure” for addiction will not be found in our individual brains but in the way we interact with our communities. Set apart by its color, candor, and bell-clear writing, Never Enough is a revelatory look at the roles drugs play in all of our lives and offers crucial new insight into how we can solve the epidemic of abuse.

More people are being treated for substance abuse each year, creating a vital need for a practical, easy-to-use manual for addiction treatment providers. Addiction Medicine: An Introduction for Health Care Professionals, by Dr. Robert D. Lovinger, provides clear, authoritative guidance on current concepts of brain functions associated with substance abuse, early management and long-term treatment protocols, and effective psychiatric co-morbidity drug therapies with the goal to provide improved personalized treatments for patients suffering from addiction. - Discusses the physiological effects of substance abuse on the brain and body. - Summarizes current and successful addiction management protocols. - Examines applications and recommended drug treatments for patients susceptible to long-term relapse. - Covers smoking cessation and common substance abuse-linked sexually transmitted diseases. - Consolidates today's available information and guidance into a single, convenient resource.

After decades of the American “war on drugs” and relentless prison expansion, political officials are finally challenging mass incarceration. Many point to an apparently promising solution to reduce the prison population: addiction treatment. In Addicted to Rehab, Bard College sociologist Allison McKim gives an in-depth and innovative ethnographic account of two such rehab programs for women, one located in the criminal justice system and one located in the private healthcare system—two very different ways of defining and treating addiction. McKim’s book shows how addiction rehab reflects the race, class, and gender politics of the punitive turn. As a result, addiction has become a racialized category that has reorganized the link between punishment and welfare provision. While reformers hope that treatment will offer an alternative to punishment and help women, McKim argues that the framework of addiction further stigmatizes criminalized women and undermines our capacity to challenge gendered subordination. Her study ultimately reveals a two-tiered system, bifurcated by race and class.

This book provides an overview of the state of the art in research on and treatment of gambling disorder. As a behavioral addiction, gambling disorder is of increasing relevance to the field of mental health. Research conducted in the last decade has yielded valuable new insights into the characteristics and etiology of gambling disorder, as well as effective treatment strategies. The different chapters of this book present detailed information on the general concept of addiction as applied to gambling, the clinical characteristics, epidemiology and comorbidities of gambling disorder, as well as typical cognitive distortions found in patients with gambling disorder. In addition, the book includes chapters discussing animal models and the genetic and neurobiological underpinnings of the disorder. Further, it is examining treatment options including pharmacological and psychological intervention methods, as well as innovative new treatment approaches. The book also discusses relevant similarities to and differences with substance-related disorders and other behavioral addictions. Lastly, it examines gambling behavior from a cultural perspective, considers possible prevention strategies and outlines future perspectives in the field.

In Understanding Addiction, doctors Smith and Hunt bring an important perspective to the subject of addiction

Interventions for Addiction examines a wide range of responses to addictive behaviors, including psychosocial treatments, pharmacological treatments, provision of health care to addicted individuals, prevention, and public policy issues. Its focus is on the practical application of information covered in the two previous volumes of the series, Comprehensive Addictive Behaviors and Disorders. Readers will find information on treatments beyond commonly used methods, including Internet-based and faith-based therapies, and criminal justice interventions. The volume features extensive coverage of pharmacotherapies for each of the major drugs of abuse—including disulfiram, buprenorphine, naltrexone, and others—as well as for behavioral addictions. In considering public policy, the book examines legislative efforts, price controls, and limits on advertising, as well as World Health Organization (WHO) efforts. Interventions for Addiction is one of three volumes comprising the 2,500-page series, Comprehensive Addictive Behaviors and Disorders. This series provides the most complete collection of current knowledge on addictive behaviors and disorders to date. In short, it is the definitive reference work on addictions. - Includes descriptions of both psychosocial and pharmacological treatments. - Addresses health services research on attempts to increase the use of evidence-based treatments in routine clinical practice. - Covers attempts to slow the progress of addictions through prevention programs and changes in public policy.