NEW BOOK: Addiction or Self Medication? The Truth

This book presents an alternative view of substance addiction and recovery rooted in the self-medication hypothesis and outlines the components of a comprehensive state-of-the art approach for the abstinence-oriented treatment of substance abuse and addiction. The authors explore the dynamics of the development of Alcoholics Anonymous and the limitations of its 12-step fellowship approach to recovery. Topics include: drugs as self-medication, the reward pathways in the brain, the psychology and physiology of craving, the psychodynamics of addiction and recovery, cultural attitudes towards drugs and alcohol, the need for legal and criminal justice reform, and the role of defense mechanisms in addiction and recovery.

Dr. Nikakhtar is the founder and medical director of the SAT Health Center, a secular outpatient recovery program in Beverly Hills, Calif., and clinical assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Markert is a chemical dependency counselor at the Matrix Institute in Los Angeles.

"Addiction or Self Medication? The Truth" is not currently available in Europe but can be ordered from the US Amazon.Com at