[.ca] Beyond the Influence: Understanding and Defeating Alcoholism (ISBN 0553380141)

Wonderful Book reviewed by wife of (recovered) alcoholic:
My husband has been dry for 2 years and I am very lucky that is the path he chose. When he checked himself in to a 30 day treatment program I ordered this book and about 10 others to try and better understand his disease. This was by FAR the best book I have read on this subject and it helped me immensely to understand and cope with his disease. Having an alcoholic in your life is so difficult. Al-anon meetings and another book on Codependence helped me, but this book shed so much light on the nature of the beast I felt like I was up against and that is something I didn't really find anywhere else. Best of luck and many blessings to you on this journey! I hope this book helps you too. Namaste!

Must Reading for Every Alcoholic:
As a recovering alcoholic, 59 year old, professsional woman, this book has helped me tremendously. For over 20 years, I blamed my weak will-power for my inability to control my drinking. However,I have been successful in other areas of my life so I knew I did have a lot of self-discipline. This book helped convince me (and accept)that I am one of a minority of people who is genetically unable to drink alcohol moderately. The "brain research" documented in this book convinced me that many of the emotional problems that I experienced periodically in my early recovery were the result of the changes that alcohol had caused in my brain. I was able to expect some of the anxiety, sleep problems, depression, cravings, etc, and since I was prepared for them I was (am) able to deal with them. If you are still drinking or recovering, this book is full of information that will help you.

Too strong-willed succumb to alcoholism? Have a read!:
I feel obliged to write a review, as this book has been instrumental in enabling me to "catch" my alcoholism in its early stages. ~10%+ of the population are born alcoholics; heavy drinking, esp in teen years, can bring it out in others. Alcoholism really is a progressive disease, not a matter of willpower. Ask yourself: Do you handle your alcohol well? Drink more now than a year ago? This book explains that alcoholism really is a PROGRESSIVE disease. Most alcoholics -- and budding alcoholics -- were born with a predisposition to it. Learn why a "strong will" won't help overcome this biological affliction, unless you stop drinking altogether. Understand why "moderation" will not work for the born alcoholic.

Ray of Truth in the Dark World of Ignorance:
Citing the latest hard, cold facts of the most modern scientific discoveries, authors prove beyond the reasonable doubt, and state both loud and clear: Alcoholism is NOT a flaw of character, NOT a weakness of will, but the physiological disease, over which a person, stricken with it, has no control! And it's an equal opportunity disease, striking good people from all walks of life: blue collar workers as well as admirals and generals, senators and congressmen, farmers and sailors, high school dropouts and college professors, beggars and millionaires, idiots, geniuses and our neighbor, everyday common man and woman... (...) People are different, authors claim and prove in great detail. Some 10 to 15% of us have a gene, which creates different enzymes within our system, which in turn make highly addictive chemicals while processing the ingested alcohol within our bodies. Human brain is uncapable to resist the craving for alcohol, caused by those chamicals, which are never produced by the bodies of non-alcoholics. Therefore, alcoholics are not more guilty of having alcoholism, as cancer patients are guilty of having cancer, or diabetics being ill with diabetis. The only solution to the disease of alcoholism is professional, medical treatment, followed by warm and sensitive care of the family, support groups, and society. Punishment, consisting of creation of severe stress, humiliation and application of strong mental and spiritual pain won't work, only making condition worse. Much worse! Primitive and superficial psychological counseling won't work, either. Only complex, modern, professional treatment will. Great reading for anyone affected by or interested in the disease of alcoholism. A must for judges and prosecutors, busy sending ill people into the sewer pipe of industry of "corrections"! And those few members of MADD, who REALLY want to decrease incidents of drunk driving by fighting its causes, not symptoms, by helping alcoholics to get well, not just looking for an outlet of their hate and anger, which are the most destructive and counterproductive of all human emotions.

I'm a Drunk, and My Genes Made Me Do It! (Oh really?):
This second installment of Ms. Ketcham's ode to biogenetics is just another in a dreadful line of Alcoholism-as-Disease "experts" trying to convince alcohol abusers that they are fated (somehow) by their genetic makeup, and that their only hope is lifelong conversion to public confession at support group meetings. I am an AA memebr who has not been taken in by this latest wave of self-serving pomp by a cultural paradigm that exists to keep itself alive by employing thousands of severely-underpaid paraprofessionals who hang their hats on the idea that their problems are not of their own making. Of the scores of books written recently on acetaldehyde, dopamine receptors, a1 allele, etc., not one pro-disease author can explain why a person still retains the free-will to take or not take a drink. Humans are not robots. No matter how difficult a person's personal situation is, no matter how fearful he may be, he still has the ability to change his life once and for all. The alcoholism industry's only purpose is to indoctrinate their clientele into the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and its sister 12-Step societies and to convince the families of alcoholics that everything will be okay so long as they usurp their responsibilities for their own families to the medical practitioner. And all with a healthy bill for services rendered for good measure. (Let's not forget the dozens of feel-good books one must purchase for the bathroom shelf to be able to cope through the day!) After all, who in his right mind relishes the thought of admitting that his problems are his own fault? The idea of blaming something, anything, even some mysterious biogenetic disease, is much more appealing than saying "It's all my fault." This makes everyone feel better. This reviewer has even heard at the funeral of one alcoholic, "That disease had him 'til the end." It makes even the grieving family feel more comfortable blaming a fictitious disease than the person in the casket. This is the true reason for the disease concept of alcoholism. It is amazing how many thousands of individuals have actually been duped into believing that they are powerless. Whatever happened to the limitless abilities of human power? Ketcham et al vehemently deny that people with alcohol problems can feel safe in overcoming addictions permanently. We are told to always be on guard, that we are never truly out of the woods. If cancer patients were told this, doctors would have their licenses to practice medicine revoked. Here's a hint to those who may be skeptical as to this review: A true disease is one that is a bodily lesion that can be found in a corpse. There is no visibly identifiable gene or bodily lesion that can be called alcoholism. There never was, and there never will be. In the last hundred years, beginning with psychiatrists, the idea of disease has been expanded to include anything that has "observable signs and symptoms." That is to say, anything that a clinician can write down and bill you for. As such, gambling, sex, and love can become diseases. Hasn't anyone noticed that support groups now exist for these so-called new diseases? What's next? Knucklecrackers Anonymous? Don't laugh. In this day and age, anything is possible.