Journalist Jenny Valentish investigates the female experience of drugs and alcohol, using her own story to light the way. Her travels around Australia take her to treatment facilities and AA groups. Mining the expertise of leading researchers, she explores the early predictors of addiction, such as childhood trauma and temperament, and teenage impulsivity.
Drawing on neuroscience, she explains why other self-destructive behaviours - such as eating disorders, compulsive buying and high-risk sex - are interchangeable with problematic substance use. Valentish follows the pathways that women, in particular, take into addiction - and out again. Woman of Substances is an insightful, rigorous and brutally honest read.
Marijke is the Customer Service Supervisor at Boffins and has been a Boffin for over five years, and a bird fanatic for even longer. She reads anything interesting.
A well-written mix of memoir and contemporary research into drug addiction. Jenny Valentish explores her own history of substance abuse and addiction, and speaks to a variety of researchers and professionals. She also examines the gendered nature of addiction - how we talk about, and react to, male and female addicts in different ways, for example the prevalence of Borderline Personailty Disorder diagnosis in female patients. The book also talks about treatment and how it differs from country to country - Australia's harm minimisation policies compared to America's War on Drugs. Being based in Australia, Jenny does shine a lot of light on Australia's situation and this book is a must-read for any Australian to get a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding drug addiction.
