Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment

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But now they're conscious of the fact they've put on weight and they don't like it. They won't eat." 'God forbid women take drugs to enjoy ourselves' 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. Where my own experience diverged, was in not following the Alcoholics Anonymous model that Valentish explores in the latter third of the book, so as a consequence, I found this part of the book less compelling. It’s also written as a list rather than a narrative. That said, I have however completed 5615 levels of Cookie Jam (Candy Crush by another name) and independently arrived at the same conclusion as Valentish, that permission to deviate from abstinence reinforces it rather than troubles your desire to live (mostly) free from problematic substance use. Read: Jessica Martin, ‘ Woman of Substances: Why Jenny Valentish is lifting the veil on women's addiction’, ABC News, June 11 2017.

Women, Valentish says she heard time and time again while researching the book, are also more likely than men to abuse drugs and alcohol as a means of self-medicating the symptoms of mental illness.

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I loved the rags to riches story and found myself wishing I too could have a gift for cooking, business, dressmaking, etc etc. Her talents were enormous but her flaws were equally huge! She wears the things that she likes, regardless of whether they’re on trend or the height of fashion. Woman of Substances is an insightful, rigorous and brutally honest read. In Australia it was nominated for a prestigious Walkley Book Award. You should never do anything which your conscience doesn’t allow you. The world has seen women as one of the most vulnerable classes because women didn’t stand for what they want and they believe. So, if you want to be a woman of substance, you need to stand for your beliefs and this can only happen when you have a clear path to walk on! Woman of Substance Quotes: By way of explanation. I work as a pharmacist and much of my professional life is spent working with people with drug addictions. I found the research and information in this book to be valuable to a lay person. I think it would be a good book for families and others interested in knowing what can happen from a physical, physiological and psychological stand point. This was good, solid and diverse information in easy to understand language.

Part monograph, part memoir, part Ginsbergian howl of outrage at a culture in which gender bias is a tenet. It is a work of compellingly articulate anger' The Australian.Yet the very survival and progression of the human race have always relied on cooperation. That’s why acts of altruism are deeply ingrained within us. Everything about addiction, from the way we talk about it to the way that it is treated, is tailored to men's experience." This allows you to demand the respect you are owed. Let’s just say that you’re not so easily scared off by a challenge. I read it 30 years ago in my bookclub and I am currently re-reading it. I read the series, each about the next generation of the Harte family, and enjoyed them immensely, but each book stands alone with satisfying endings. Valentish’s passion lies in exploring the underlying causes and their effects and, in the most female of ways, offering companionship and reassurance for her readers.’ —the Monthly