
Description
Weaving together a personal narrative and a sociological perspective, Surviving Alex movingly describes how even children from "good families" fall prey to addiction, and recounts the hellish toll it takes on families. Drawing from interviews with Alex's friends, family members, therapists, teachers, and police officers--as well as files from his stays in hospitals, rehab facilities, and jails--Roos paints a compelling portrait of a young man whose life veered between happiness, anxiety, success, and despair. And as she explores how a punitive system failed her son, she calls for a community of action that would improve care for substance users and reduce addiction, realigning public health policy to address the overdose crisis.
Product Details
Publisher | Rutgers University Press |
Publish Date | May 17, 2024 |
Pages | 402 |
Language | English |
Type | |
EAN/UPC | 9781978837027 |
Dimensions | 9.6 X 6.4 X 1.2 inches | 1.6 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"An intensely personal and painfully honest story of the loss of a son, the cruelties of American drug and healthcare policies, and the hope that harm reduction can bring. Both a memorial and a sociological analysis, Surviving Alex shows us that addiction is indeed something to fear, but not for the reasons many of us assume."
--David Herzberg "author of White Market Drugs: Big Pharma and the Hidden History of Addiction in America"
"Patricia Roos's harrowing story of her beloved son's struggles with mental health and addiction--intertwined with her courageous but doomed fight to save his life--dishes out near relentless heartache. But she persists, revealing the systems that failed her family and inspiring us to join her fight for desperately needed reform."
--Jessie Dunleavy "activist and author of Cover My Dreams in Ink: A Son's Unbearable Solitude, A Mother's Unending Ques"
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