Foundational advice to steer young adults away from the urges and temptations that lead to substance abuse.
Education and parenting journalist Lahey presents a memoir of—and research-backed guide to—negotiating the world of substance abuse.
Intoxicants have been with us since the beginning of civilization, writes the author, easing “the ache of common injuries as well as the pain of being human.” In this intimate, fruitful work, she opens with a candid account of her own alcoholism before moving on to an explanation of the deleterious effects of alcohol and drugs on the developing brains of adolescents and young adults. Lahey’s foray into neurobiology is shaped by peer-reviewed journals, so the science is solid, as are her emotional and behavioral insights into mental health. In straightforward prose, the author documents the risks for the young, from ages approximately 10 to 24, including differing triggers for males and females and protective measures that can be deployed to help contend with peer pressure and other factors that may lead them to substance abuse. In addition to examining the effects of epigenetics, ADHD, and “adverse childhood experiences,” Lahey compassionately lays out the societal pressures that can result in toxic stress and aggressive behavior. She emphasizes the importance of keeping open transparent lines of communication and relying on “evidence-based information” in the fight to prevent addiction. What does not work, she points out, is a parental approach that focuses on “lies and scare tactics.” Lahey also provides recommendations such as keeping the alcohol locked up, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, avoiding “secrets and shame,” and getting a pet. Some of the author’s suggestions may not stick with hormone-soaked teens—e.g., mindfulness practice, quiet time, invoking the serenity prayer—but there’s enough here to offer a solid plan for parents. While “every substance abuse story begins at home,” Lahey also introduces inoculation theory, life-skills training, and an array of signals to watch out for during the schooling years.
Foundational advice to steer young adults away from the urges and temptations that lead to substance abuse.Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-288378-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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