Fingarette aims to refute evidence that alcoholism is a disease. Rejecting the terms alcoholic and disease, he points out that many "heavy drinkers" do not experience craving and/or loss of control, can engage in controlled drinking, and have spontaneous recovery. He also notes the variable success rates of medical treatment programs. Ultimately, Fingarette states that heavy drinking is dependent upon a host of situational factors. The heavy drinker is not "a passive patient who will be treated by an expert . . ." but an individual capable of exercising control and assuming responsibility. The weakness here is that alcoholism and heavy drinking are in fact different entities; in discussing alcoholism there is room for both a disease and a situational model. Barbara J. Powell, Veterans Administration Medical Ctr., Kansas City, Mo.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
In the fourteen years since the debut of this remarkable work, Professor Fingarette's book continues to be vilified by the current Alcoholism-as-Disease paradigm as a sham, harmful to its readers, and that it should be banned from all major book stores. It is simply amazing how this book struck the paradigm at its core, and how they haven't gotten over the hangover. This book is truth at its simplistic best. It is cumbersome to admit one's own culpability, and even harder for an alcoholic to admit that he is his own worst enemy. I know. I was one. After years of living in fear of the next drink, which surely would lead me to a single, inexorable destructive conclusion, works like Dr. Fingarette's "Heavy Drinking" had shown me that I was creating my own self-fulfilling prophecy, and that I indeed had the power to change, not just one day at a time, but forever. Of course, this idea flies in the face of those who promote the disease concept of alcoholism. Naturally, the multi-billion dollar institution will not tell you that they have done nothing to help the addiction situation since the AMA self-servingly declared alcoholism to be an illness in 1956. They continue to tell the public that the alcohol problem continues to skyrocket. The harshest attack on Dr. Fingarette's book is his assertion that alcoholics can learn to control their drinking. It has been proven time and again by several major studies since the 1960s. And yet, the disease camp, founded by the old unfounded addage "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic" spends countless millions in government-funded dollars promoting the idea that this is impossible. They have to. If they admitted that it was possible, their very essence would be threatened, and the industry would collapse. Bravo to Dr. Fingarette for having the guts to stand firm in the face of such pressure and present the truth. It is only by the presence of more secure individuals like the good doctor when a real answer can be offered to those who abuse alcohol and drugs. The keys to success are motivation, values, morality (yes, what's wrong with living a morally decent life?), and maturity. Life is worth living, and the same joy that was once found in a bottle can be found inside the joys of parenthood, work, and success.
