Product Description
Compelling, provocative stories of Addiction and Loss "Mom, nobody wakes up one day and decides to be an addict." The stories contained in this book are about people from every walk of life, socioeconomic levels, religious and ethnic backgrounds whose lives were intertwined with people who didn't "decide to be an addict."They all share one common bond - living with, and loving an addicted person. Contained within the pages of this book are stories by bereaved parents who have suffered the ultimate loss: The loss of their precious child.Read how addiction, whether it be drugs, alcohol or gambling, destroys not only the addicted person, but their entire circle of friends and family.No one escapes the tentacles of addiction. Like an octopus it reaches its deadly arms around us and squeezes the very life out of all of us. Our society is affected in ways we never imagined.Read excerpts from middle school students on the peer pressures they face today.Read the stories of parents who have gone through hell, sacrificing their very sanity trying to save their child.The profiles of these children will change your mind about what kind of people do drugs. GOOD KIDS DO DRUGS TOO!

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 32 reviews)

Disappointed by Ann Groves (Marlboro, NJ USA)

3 Stars
February 07, 2009
I was disappointed with this book. It is written in a somewhat breathy and excitable, even naive style which belies the subject matter. Basically it is a series of very sad stories of the perils and destruction of drug addiction. I was hoping for more analysis on why the people depicted in the various vignettes made the choices they did. I also noticed that most of the stories revolved around heroin and I was looking for examples of prescription drug abuse.

The brutal reality of drug addiction from the perspective of the survivor by Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com))

5 Stars
September 13, 2008
These stories, very sad and unfortunately so real, are about senseless death. The people described are the young victims of drug addiction so severe that it took their lives. Written by their surviving relatives, nearly always parents, the stories are real, raw and painful. They describe the struggles of how the parents supported their children, the anguish they felt as they watched the roller coaster of peaks, valleys, relapse, apparent recovery and finally death. Money, support, pushing them into treatment, all that could be expected of them was done, yet at best it kept their child alive a little longer. My wife is a counselor who works with female addicts with children and so she understands how powerful the addictive beast can be. Sometimes, the best she can do is to manage the relapse well enough that it does not enter the "threat to life" category. When I explained the stories to her, she understood the problems fully. The only way that the deaths of these young people can have any meaning is if they are used to persuade others to avoid contact with the monster of addiction. While they are not uplifting, they are important because they are real. When I was in my teens, my brother and I walked home from school with two girls who lived less than a block away. Two hours later, an ambulance was at their house and one of them, my brother's girlfriend, was dead of a drug overdose. Don't for one instant think that such a thing cannot happen to you, because it can. If you are a parent, read this book and learn what the price of a lack of vigilance can be.

As valuable as any clinical text. by S. Thomas (Boston, MA, USA)

5 Stars
July 13, 2008
As a Clinical Social Worker, I recommend this book be mandatory for any professional in the field. This book goes beyond a scientific understanding of substance abuse, beyond treatment methods and beyond clinical strategy. It explores substance abuse from the viewpoint of the mother or the family member who has lost a loved one. It reminds us that a life lost to substance abuse is a life victimized by an ugly and unrelenting disease. It reminds us that families left behind are victims themselves, as we see in the painful words of the book's many contributing writers. Our society so easily stereotypes "the addict", judges or places blame on the person for "choosing" that lifestyle. This book challenges us to break that stereotype, to see the beauty, the intellect, the passion and the energy that such individuals possess. It challenges us not to cast such individuals into the marginalized population but to do all we can to support them and help them find recovery when possible. Any loss is great, but there is no greater loss than that of a child. I commend the strength and honesty of the mothers and family members who have come together to write this book. May this book continue to act as a passionate and moving tribute to their children. May it also remind all professionals in the field of addiction to treat not "the addict", but the individual; to explore that person's capabilities and dreams, to find that person's sources of energy, creativity and strength, to use family support in treatment when possible. "I Am Your Disease: The Many Faces of Addiction" is a powerful and honest read, and a necessity for any professional in the field. Sarah Thomas, LCSW

The Real Costs of Addiction by Steven L. Hayes

5 Stars
April 24, 2008
This is a great book and makes the real costs of our prescription drug epidemic understandable to everyone. It is a must read for all Americans. We must educate the public that the prescription drug epidemic is going to ruin generations of our people unless we take action. We can no longer tolerate drug companies pushing legal "heroin" to our people and turning the other head when it causes the devastation pointed out by Sheryl McGinnis. Steve Hayes Medical Director Novus Medical Detox Center

Tragic stories of addiction by Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas)

4 Stars
April 10, 2008
Author Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis lost her son Scott to a drug overdose. She says she wrote this book as therapy for herself but also to warn others as to the dangers of addiction to drugs. This book is a compilation of many grieving parents who write the stories of their children's addictions. They come from all walks of life, social, and economic groups, but they have one thing in common--they have lost a child to addiction and subsequent death. They all tried to stop their child's downward spiral but none of them were successful. The book also contains poetry from grieving parents and an eye-opening look at a group of eighth graders' view of peer pressure. This is a sobering book which serves as a warning to any teenager or parent of a teenager. There is a list of support groups and there are some suggestions for heading off a serious addiction, but mostly the problem is presented in the stark reality of hopelessness. The only answer is not to start taking drugs in the first place and it is this point of view that the book is promoting.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Addict In The Family: Stories of Loss, Hope, and Recovery. by Beverly Conyers (Author) In a well-written, powerful narrative, Conyers shows family members at their worst before showing how they found hope and recovery. Always engaging and healing, each heart-wrenching story is true to the experience of anyone who has admitted to a spiritual powerlessness and inability to cure their own family's addiction. Conyers skillfully, compassionately, and intelligently distills key recovery points that offer invaluable lessons on loving, detachment, intervention, self-care, self-help...
	When a Child Dies from Drugs: Practical Help for Parents in Bereavement by Pat Wittberger ; Russ Wittberger (Author) Written by parents to help other parents who are experiencing the ultimate tragedy of their child's death from alcohol or drugs this book offers guidance, healing, hope and understanding.Practical advice and strength for those isolated in a dark void wondering whether they will ever resurface into the real world again.A must for friends,counselors and others who need to learn the impact and pain of these deaths in order to support families.
	Slaying the Addiction Monster: An All-Inclusive Look at Drug Addiction in America Today by Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis (Author) Slaying the Addiction Monster - An All-Inclusive Look at Drug Addiction in America Today is the second book by Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis. This book is an indepth look at the rampant drug epidemic in our country. It includes personal interviews with leading cocaine researchers. Also included is advice from parents for other parents on how to cope with living with an addicted person. The book also takes you into the world of the drug addicted person and includes advice from children from beyond...
	Willpower's Not Enough: Recovering from Addictions of Every Kind by Arnold M. Washton (Author) Many people think that what the addict needs is willpower, but nothing could be further from the truth: When a person has already lost control over a drug or activity, attempts to control its use almost never work. Because the source of addiction isn't the drug or activity itself but a desire for a mood changer, successful recovery means ultimately changing the way we live, giving up the addictive life-style. Willpower's Not Enough will show you how to change your life-style and to recover...
	The Enabler: When Helping Hurts the Ones You Love by Angelyn Miller (Author) DO YOU CONFUSE BEING NEEDED WITH BEING LOVED? DO YOU RELATE TO OTHERS BY TAKING CARE OF THEM? ARE THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU UNABLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN TWO FEET? Co-dependency--of which enabling is a major dynamic--can and does exist in families where there is no active chemical dependency. Author Angelyn Miller's own experience is a dramatic example: the ultimate "super-mom", neither Miller nor her husband drank. Yet in spite of her best efforts, she found her family...