Almost Addicted: Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drug Use a Problem?

Harvard Medical School’s “Almost Effect” series is increasingly valuable in a world where mental health issues are starting to be seen on a grayscale rather than in black and white. The series, which includes Almost a Psychopath: Do I (or Does Someone I Know) Have a Problem with Manipulation and Lack of Empathy? and Almost Alcoholic: Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drinking a Problem?, was created to give guidance on “common behavioral and physical problems that fit into the spectrum between normal health and a full-blown medical condition.” In its latest installment, Almost Addicted: Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drug Use a Problem?, primary author J. Welsey Boyd and Eric Metcalf delve into the sensitive time when one’s drug use has become troubling, but has not yet reached the diagnostic criteria for addiction. Is all drug use bad? How do we know if we need help and when or how to seek it? What can we make of the fact that two states recently legalized marijuana? Boyd sets out to draw a road map for these tough questions for both the substance user and his/her loved ones. A medical doctor and Ph.D., he uses his impressive list of credentials — including faculty psychiatrist at Harvard, staff psychiatrist at Boston Children’s Hospital Adolescent Substance Abuse Program, and co-founder/director of the Human Rights and Asylum Clinic. The end result is a useful guide — but with a few flaws. Because the “almost” concept may seem foreign to someon...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Book Reviews General Substance Abuse Adolescent Substance Abuse Boston Children Children S Hospital Diagnostic Criteria Dr Boyd Drug Use Dsm Diagnosis Early Intervention Eric Metcalf Founder Director Glu Source Type: news