If current trends continue, there are going to be far too many mothers and grandmothers who are alcoholics. Being a girl, a woman, a mother or a grandmother should be something different than being in love with booze. When asked about their preferences, no one prefers to be an alcoholic, yet many women have and will have developed lives centered about alcoholic beverages. The problem is that habitually drinking alcoholic beverages is unhealthy (think liver disease, breast cancer, and erosion of cognitive ability). This book presents the latest science applicable to the prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. The book was written with the goal of providing women with information, some very new, to help them make smart decisions, smart choices about how to deal with the temptations presented by the alcohol culture that has infused our modern world.
About the Author: The author is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, in the Department of Cognitive Science, at RPI. He spent a goodly portion of his career doing basic research on topics such as the neural basis of pleasure. It turns out that the results of that research have applicability to modern theories of addictions, including alcoholism. For over thirty years, semester after semester, he has taught courses with the titles of "Drugs, Society and Behavior" and "Psychopharmacology and Behavioral Toxicology." Larry is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society. Larry edited and wrote chapters for the book "Opioids, Bulimia, and Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism." This book presented the first publication (in 1990) of results indicating that it might be possible to develop new approaches to the treatment of alcoholism. The new approach featured the use of drugs of the opioid antagonist class whose use provides better opportunities for psychotherapy. The new approach has subsequently been verified in many clinical trials and is helping many alcoholics to establish lives free of addiction to alcoholic beverages. Some of Larry's research indicated that females are particularly vulnerable to developing the habit of consistantly taking large amounts of alcoholic beverages. This new perspective is the focus of this book. Larry lives a short distance from his university and currently spends a large number of hours in his office in a house he designed. Among the features of the house are great views of the valley of the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. Larry lives with his wife Meta. Meta provides what every scholar should have, an intellectual companion who is both smart and good. Together, we work at sustaining a very happy and very interesting marriage.