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Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'
Dopamino tauta: pusiausvyros paieška piktnaudžiavimo amžiuje by Anna Lembke
24 reviews
maddelleine's review against another edition
3.5
... This is the beginning of the blurb of <i>Dopamine Nation</i>. It's written by a psychiatrist and aims to raise awareness about the world of indulgence and "getting it easy" that we're living in now. We're more and more used to instant gratification, we counteract boredom with stuff for our eyes (like doom scrolling if there's nothing better) or for our ears (music or podcasts or anything really that gives some audio stimulation) or for any of our other senses. We have forgotten how to let our minds wander and be free of attention to anything in particular, by focusing on anti-attention (that's my own term haha).
I completely agree with the premise and the starting point. It's why I picked up this book and was interested in finding out how to manage all this context and maybe limit my own issues (I've recently had the revelation that I don't really make the time anymore to reflect on anything. I've "optimised" the dead times with books or audiobooks or music or scrolling or mobile gaming; basically anything that fills the time and a minimal amount of attention. Which in turn lead to other things).
What kept me from rating it higher is its relevance (from my point of view) for the mere mortals who don't necessarily have pathological habits/ addictions, but who would like to improve their lives by limiting all this instant gratification. Dr. Lembke talks a lot about her patients with various types of addiction, be it that they admitted to the problem or not in the first place. She practices empathy and works together with her patients to reach treatment plans and behavioural changes, instead of directly prescribing (she actually avoids prescribing medicine where it's not crucial). She also has a system for tackling the problem together with the patient, which she kindly shares with us.
There is interesting information about how we're wired and what makes our brains tick. There are also tougher topics with which she deals head on, maybe coming off as judgmental. But it's judgment she admits to experiencing and moving over (one quote that stuck with me - <i>"If we don't like our patients, we can't help them. When I first met Laurie, I didn't like her.") which for me is more genuine - we're all human beings with our own biases and preconceptions; psychologists and psychiatrists and coaches are no different, but the difference lies in being able to get over your initial thoughts and go into the session with an open mind and a real wish to help the person in front of you and support them through their process.
Listening to these stories has been interesting, as well as to some of the techniques used. And for some mental health practitioners it might even come off as a handy guide for some situations (such as the D.O.P.A.M.I.N.E. acronym). But for self improvement it's a bit harder to put into practice and figure out a personal process.
Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual content
pvp_niki's review against another edition
https://www.sluggish.xyz/p/the-myth-making-of-dopamine-nation
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Classism
kiwichill's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content
mel_rauen's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual content
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
eliasaurus's review against another edition
3.0
The book's first section is its strongest, with a good overview of what dopamine does and its role in addiction. However, the section about pain went on longer than it needed to, and the section about shame seemed completely out of place. This section is probably responsible for the reviews stating that Lembke is overly favorable towards AA and the 12 steps. I don't think she's recommending AA as much as stating that it worked for many of her patients. Still, this part of the book is the shakiest and could have been omitted entirely.
On the whole, the book is very readable and I learned some new info. I also enjoyed the patient stories (and the author's note about obtaining consent for their use). But it's not amazing.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
slipppers98's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
mjadeh's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
adrianna_0623's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Alcohol
oliviahamilton's review against another edition
5.0
The book broke down a complex scientific topic into digestible, interesting chapters and stories, with no dull portions, yet was still rooted in facts and studies. That's a feat. The author's own honesty really shone through as well, as evidenced especially later in the book.
Worth a reread at some point.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Sexual content