Slaying the Addiction Monster, An
All Inclusive
Look at Drug Addiction In America
Today
Sheryl Letzgus
McGinnis
Reviewed by Tina Avon
I have just finished reading Slaying the Addiction Monster,
An All Inclusive Look at Drug Addiction in America Today, written by
Sherry
McGinnis.
Don’t let the title of this book fool you – this
book is not all about medical
jargon and lots of boring, dry scientific facts – this book is about a
mother’s
love and loss because of addiction, it's about a need for togetherness
and
sharing of the pain with other people, it's about seeking out people
who have
lived the same hell, it's about awareness, but most of all, it's about
writing a
book that may help one parent or one addict win
the war against the Addiction Monster.
<>I have read many, many books on addiction and recovery as
this is a subject that is close to my heart.
I can honestly say that I have always found some little treasure
in each
of the books that I have read. However,
Slaying the Addiction Monster is like no other I have ever read.
This book covers absolutely every possible
aspect of addiction. Indeed, this book is a veritable
wealth of helpful and invaluable information on the subject, but more
importantly, you will also read some incredibly sad, moving and honest
stories,
about everyday people, parents just like you and I, who have lived with
and, in
many instances, lost their children to the Addiction Monster – for
them, there
will never be a happy ending – as the author plainly puts it at the
beginning
of the book ‘a parent should never outlive their child’.
The author has, herself, suffered greatly because of
addiction – which, I believe, makes her extremely qualified to write
this book.
She has reached out to other parents
who have lived similar addiction hell and has asked them to open their
hearts
and share their stories. All of these people are extremely brave and as
I was
reading each story, I found a common thread – the love all of these
people felt
for their children. There is no blame
here, it is all about trying to understand, it is all about showing us
the
caring, loving side of their children – I pretty well started crying at
the
first story and only stopped when I closed the book.
Such pain, but at the same time, there is
some hope – what if one person can be saved from reading this book?
As I mentioned, there are some very informative chapters here on things
such as
the History of Addiction (the addict is NOT horrible – the addiction
IS), the
chapter on cleaning out your medicine cabinet (I had never thought of
this
before), the description of what each drug is – as well as the street
names
attached to each one. I believe that all
of these are important aspects that should definitely act as guidelines
for any
parent who may be concerned about their children. As the author states,
‘if you
believe your kids may be doing drugs – then you need to rely on your
instinct’. Unfortunately, denial is a
huge problem when it comes to addiction – for the addict and for the
people
around him/her.
But most of all, I keep coming back to the stories – so brave and so
sad. I loved this book and I am in awe of
all the
parents out there who have lived, loved and lost a child due to the
Monster
that is Addiction – you are very brave.