Diseasing of America: How We Allowed Recovery Zealots and the Treatment Industry to Convince Us We Are Out of Control Paperback - 1999

From the rear cover

There is absolutely no proven scientific evidence supporting the misconception that substance abuse and other addictions are genetically acquired diseases. Shocked? Diseasing of America is a powerful and controversial rebuttal to the "addiction as disease model" that many vested interests-including doctors, counselors, psychologists, treatment centers, and twelve-step programs that specialize in addiction treatment-don't want you to read.

From the jacket flap

A Controversial Argument Against the Disease Theory of Addiction There is absolutely no proven scientific evidence supporting the misconception that substance abuse and other addictions are genetically acquired diseases. Shocked? Diseasing of America is a powerful and controversial rebuttal to the "addiction as disease model" that many vested interests-including doctors, counselors, psychologists, treatment centers, and twelve-step programs that specialize in addiction treatment-don't want you to read. "Peele makes it clear that the disease model of addiction is an emperor without clothes. By placing addictive behaviors in the context of other problems of living, he emphasizes personal responsibility for one's habits. The book empowers the reader to view addiction in a new optimistic light."--G. Alan Marlatt, director, Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington, and coauthor of Relapse Prevention "A courageous indictment of the destructive mindset that all deviant behavior is a disease. Peele offers mindful alternatives to those suffering from addictions and to professionals seeking to help them."--Ellen Langer, professor of psychology, Harvard University "I found the arguments in Diseasing of America persuasive and carefully documented. While I find current addiction-treatment models helpful, I think it is critical to look at Stanton Peele's work to question our fundamental assumptions and adjust them on the basis of data."--Jennifer P. Schneider, author of Back From Betrayal and Sex, Lies, and Forgiveness, and member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine "A provocative review of the uses and abuses of the disease model in the past three decades. This important book has significantly added to my education and clinical understanding of addiction in my professional practice."--Richard R. Irons, The Menninger Clinic