Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of Overcoming Problem Drinking, 22 Oct 2006
I had a problem with drinking. I found Marcantonio Spada's book, Overcoming Problem Drinking, very useful in overcoming that problem. The book contains a clear characterisation of problem drinking and an explanation of what causes it. And a main strength of the book is its focus upon exercises and practical strategies, which the reader is encouraged to do and apply. Through doing the exercises and applying the strategies, I was able to overcome my problem.
Particular emphasis is placed upon the relationship between negative emotions and problem drinking. It is shown how, to a large extent, problem drinking is a case of being dependent upon alcohol to cope with unpleasant emotions. For example, the book explains how negative emotions (e.g. anxiety) result in positive thoughts about alcohol (e.g. "A drink will make me feel better"), which in turn lead to alcohol cravings. It also shows how an unbalanced life (e.g. working all the time) results in negative emotions; and how poor life skills (e.g. being poor at handling crticism) results in negative emotions or an inability to deal effectively with them. Exercises are provided to help the reader identify and respond to the various kinds of thoughts that bring about problem drinking. Doing these exercises helped me overcome my problem. Advice and strategies are provided for leading a balanced life and developing life skills. Through following the advice and applying the strategies, I became better able to deal with the everyday pressures of life without drinking. Techniques are given for resisting alcohol cravings; through applying them, I was able, on many occasions, to prevent slips. Also, advice is given about learning from slips and preventing them in the future.
Overall, Spada's book is well structured, clear, concise, and easy to understand. It tells you what you need to know and provides a do-able programme for overcoming problem drinking. And speaking from personal experience, the programme really does work.
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11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not much use for severe drinking problems. Helpful for more moderate drinkers., 12 Nov 2007
If you have accidentally become a heavy social drinker this book might help you to limit your alcohol intake. If, like me, you're a compulsive drinker (addicted to alcohol) it probably won't be of much use to you.
The 'cognitive behavioural' methods that it recommends did help me to cut back for a short time. But it was horrible. I had to think about 'controlling' my drinking all the time. It took all the fun out of my life. I've since found that I'm happier when I don't drink at all.
Try Senor Spada's 'controlled drinking' to see if you can do it. If you can, good luck to you. If you run into problems, you might have to do what I did in the end - go to AA.
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10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Help is at hand to change problem belief systems around drinking, 11 Nov 2006
Dr Spada has written an extremely useful manual which can provide guidance to anyone experiencing alcohol dependency problems. His book is almost uniquely tailored to appeal to the range of problem drinkers, from those who drink upon waking - to individuals who find themselves binge drinking only at weekends.
While the techniques which are presented are in the mold of classic CBT responses to such problems, Dr Spada understands problem drinking not as a pathological situation in which drastic measures, treatments, or particular lifetime commitments are necessarily essential. As such, he is able to lay out a programme of techniques which - given the right level of commitment and effort - may be followed by anyone. Dr Spada's approach enables the reader to examine his or her habitual behavioural responses to unmanageable feelings or beliefs, with encouragement to acknowledge and challenge those beliefs which will have undoubtedly lead to the drinking in the first place.
Having had a wide exposure to similar self-help manuals over many years, I am delighted to find a book which does not make the drinker feel blamed or hopelessly ill with his problem. The message of the book is that of providing for the drinker a positive vision of the future when drinking is no longer a problem - and therefore of the possibility of escape from the revolving door of drink and the negative feelings which both create the dilemma, and are created by it.
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