You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Dr. Johnson is a man with a mission: to describe the way society contributes to making people vulnerable to addiction. People ill with addiction are at risk of ruining their lives because they are unable to satisfy their emotional needs in a healthy way and use drugs that can kill them instead. That is the shortest summary of this book. Johnson also gives advice on the treatment of addiction based on neuropsychoanalytical insights. The book is well structured, with many vignettes to illustrate the story. Johnson not only has ample theoretical knowledge, but throughout the book, he also shows his personal involvement and experience. He structures his tale in five parts: (1) the addictive drug industry, (2) how addiction works, (3) treatment, (4) public health solutions, and finally (5) mass psychology. This is neuropsychoanalysis with a sociological twist!
In Part 1, we are introduced to the addictive drug industry. In four chapters, Johnson exposes the way the state and industry combined have created and sustained an addictive drug industry, wherein some drugs are forbidden while other drugs are promoted, not necessarily based on the harm they can do to the mind and body of their users (and the people close to them). He starts by using nicotine addiction as a theme. Johnson describes that people ill with addiction urgently want the drug, even though they know it is harmful for them. Nicotine sensitizes the SEEKING system, as do cocaine and methamphetamine. In Johnson’s opinion, as SEEKING motivates us to do the things we want to do, activating this system by taking a drug like nicotine or cocaine can make us drug dependent. In a healthy person, SEEKING is tuned to the goals that the other life-sustaining drives have, such as sleeping, drinking, eating, having sex, and looking for relationships. SEEKING controls the other six drives that Panksepp outlined. A well-balanced individual feels strong and confident when the SEEKING drive is activated. If