The Abstinence Myth: A New Approach For Overcoming Addiction Without Shame, Judgment, Or Rules

This can be read in an hour or two. When I first got sober it was either 12 Step or you were going to die. Well thats what I felt like and that pathway is definitely not for everyone.We have a major drug crisis in our country. We are groomed from an early age to be compulsive shoppers. Some of us buy or have bought substances.The bight side is that there are different pathways out making their ways known. This book covers it.Look at it this way. Many people in the 12 Step world claim complete abstinence but still smoke and or over indulge in eating. Both of these things are predicted take years off your life.The author discloses that he was addicted to speed, is abstinent from it, but still occasionally consumes alcohol. He has worked very hard and has changed his life, entirely. In traditional recovery there would be the judgement and false narrative that he isn’t sober, is using one substance to replace another and is still in active addiction.The author goes on to break another false truth in the face of addiction - that the person needs to be completely sober in order to be in therapy and to work on their lives. Addiction is not the issue, the person’s whole being, past traumas, genes and environment can be the issue. If you work at solving the problems that a person is trying to solve using a substance, they will not need to substance to solve the problem.There are more gray areas today, almost 100 years after 12 Steps claimed to know all the answers to the problem of alcoholism and addiction. AA people will claim AA is only for alcoholics, but it can work for other drugs as well. Today we have medications. Some people successfully use cannabis to successfully breakaway from alcoholism and other addictions. It is no longer illegal in many areas, so there are few consequences. We have therapies for trauma. All AA has for trauma is to call people “dry drunks” and imply they aren’t working the steps hard enough. We have online communities and podcasts to support harm reduction and alternative pathways out of destructive using. We also have a wider worldview with technology. Many people use AA, therapy, medications and the rest to break away from compulsive use. With all these ways of communicating, people who just sort of stopped their destructive behavior around substances, fixed their lives and just sort of moved on, they can be included in the narrative about addiction and recovery.

This book, and the ideas contained within it, have literally saved my life. When I encountered Dr. Jaffe and his approach to addiction, my ex has slipped into serious IV heroin use and I was drinking myself to blackout regularly to deal with the my terror about the future... and the unbearable pain. I never identified with the term "alcoholic" as I only drank heavily in periods when life was too painful to be conscious for - so going to rehab myself (when I was drinking primarily over the addiction of others) seemed unreasonable. The alcohol was NOT THE PROBLEM. The life I had build for myself was the problem. And while getting rid of the alcohol would no doubt help, an abstinence based approach was unrealistic for me. Dr. Jaffe's concept of "abstinence sampling" was a refreshing approach to short term goal and establishing new patterns. My relationship to alcohol has changed completely over time - thanks to Dr. Jaffe's innovative and controversial - but EFFECTIVE - approach. This book is an overdue and resounding counterpoint to all of the dangerous and inaccurate perspectives on what causes and cures addictive behaviors. Unlike the majority of the recovery field - Dr. Jaffe asserts that total abstinence from the substance or behavior you struggle with (which is black and white thinking dripping with shame landmines!) is NOT necessarily the only path to developing a healthy relationship to that substance or behavior. I also recommend Dr. Jaffe's program IGNTD to everyone I encounter who needs a new approach to addressing addiction. It doesn't matter if the compulsive habitual behavior is food, drugs, or a process addiction, this book contains evidence based tools for addressing the underlying causes of anxiety/shame that are at the root of these destructive habits. Dr. Jaffe's writing style is approachable and pulls you through with ease and keeps your curiosity high. It blends moving accounts of real people with all of the medical, clinical, statistical, and most importantly PERSONAL information that Dr. Jaffe has amassed over his lifetime - building a foundation upon which any person at all can begin to rebuild themselves without the nonsensical 12-step focus on total abstinence. It is a breath of fresh air and will no doubt dramatically improve (and potentially SAVE!) as many lives as those who read it. Can't recommend it highly enough.

This book is by far written according to my beliefs and understanding about my personal struggle with alcohol abuse! I did a 28 day treatment and I am so glad I did but I had so many questions and concerns about the 12 Step Program that I was introduced to. I hadlives in fear my whole life, I fought hard to get free of unhealthy fear and I was not about to go back to living in fear of relapsing. I heard Dr. Jaffe on a podcast talking about his alcohol and drug abuse and my spirit resonated with what he was saying, so I ordered his book and the rest is history! I am getting ready to start a self-help recovery meeting with wisdom that I gain from this book, along with my own personal recovery!

I can’t rave enough about this book! If your tired of hitting your head against the wall trying to navigate through the presets assumptions about addiction related issues this book will blow your mind. For me it’s an easy to navigate road map to uncovering a personalized approach to success. You get to define what success looks like, you get to figure out the best road for YOU. This book has transformed how I view addiction and for the first time, ever, I feel like I’m able to step into my power and make real, lasting changes. A MUST read in my opinion!

Jagged takes the definition of recovery to heart in his method. Most treatment clinicians from the mind set of "Why don't you just stop using?" This does not address the underlying issues of why they use and why they want to get better. Dr. Where's program looks at the whole person and that sets them up for lasting recovery.

Amazing book. Read it in 2 days!!! Great new concept on drinking.

Bought for a friend as an alternative healing to alcoholism

So helpful and different from the standard approaches.

Great companion to the documentary "One Little Pill" The fact that the Sinclair method is not being used by the NHS for 99.5% of addicts who are eligible for the treatment, is bordering on malpractice.

I knew that my intuition was right, but the researchs and work of Dr Adi Jaffe, gaves me a solid scientific bases.