Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy

Addiction is a preventable, treatable disease, not a moral failing. As with other illnesses, the approaches most likely to work are based on science — not on faith, tradition, contrition, or wishful thinking. These facts are the foundation of Clean. The existing addiction treatments, including Twelve Step programs and rehabs, have helped some, but they have failed to help many more. To discover why, David Sheff spent time with scores of scientists, doctors, counselors, and addicts and their families, and explored the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine. In Clean, he reveals how addiction really works, and how we can combat it.

“A guide for those affected by addiction, but also a manifesto . . . for America as it confronts its drug problem. [Sheff] has performed a vital service by compiling sensible advice on a subject for which sensible advice is in short supply.” — New York Times Book Review
“As a journalist, father, and clear-eyed chronicler of addiction, David Sheff is without peer.” — Sanjay Gupta, M.D., chief medical correspondent, CNN

• Drugs and the American Dream: An Anthology
• Addiction Treatment
• UNBROKEN BRAIN
• Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction (SUNY series in Integral Theory)
• High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction
• Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
• Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change
• Addict in the Family: Stories of Loss, Hope, and Recovery
• Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
• We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction