The life of the heroin user
Subtitle: typical beginnings, trajectories and outcomes
By: Shane Darke
Series: International research monographs in the addictions (IRMA); International research monographs in the addictions
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 188
ISBN-13: 9781107000636
Subjects: Therapy; Treatment; Substance-Related Disorders; Heroin Dependence; Heroin abuse; Substance abuse
Description: "Heroin is a worldwide scourge and a seemingly intractable one. The Life of the Heroin User: Typical Beginnings, Trajectories and Outcomes is the first book to apply a biographical approach to the lifecycle of the heroin user from birth until death. Chapters address each stage of the user's life, including childhood, routes to use, the development of dependence, problems arising from addiction, death and options for treatment and prevention. Drawing on over two decades of experience in the field of opium research, Shane Darke examines major theoretical approaches to the development of opiate dependence and the efficacy of treatment options for opiate dependence. Key points are presented at the end of each chapter. The most detailed review available of what is likely to happen to the dependent heroin user, this is an important book for clinicians, researchers and students in the fields of drug and alcohol studies and public health"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-176) and index.
Table of contents: title: Chapter 1. Heroin and addict 'careers'.; title: Chapter 2. Parents and childhood.; title: Chapter 3. Early teenage years: the onset of substance use.; title: Chapter 4. The mid to late teens: commencing heroin use.; title: Chapter 5. The 20s and 30s: the heroin and polydrug use.; title: Chapter 6. The drug treatment cycle: remission and relapse.; title: Chapter 7. The older heroin user: the 40s and beyond.; title: Chapter 8. Death: rates and causes.; title: Chapter  9. Conclusions: an inevitable life and death?