The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits
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- Create Date：2021-06-28 08:51:28
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Judson Brewer
- ISBN：0300234368
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Summary
A leading neuroscientist and pioneer in the study of mindfulness explains why addictions are so tenacious and how we can learn to conquer them
“I found [The Craving Mind] to be one of the best things I’ve read 。 。 。 on addiction。”—Ezra Klein， New York Times。
“Accessible and enjoyable。 The Craving Mind brilliantly combines the latest science with universal real-life experiences—from falling in love to spending too much time with our phones。”—Arianna Huffington
We are all vulnerable to addiction。 Whether it’s a compulsion to constantly check social media， binge eating， smoking， excessive drinking， or any other behaviors， we may find ourselves uncontrollably repeating。 Why are bad habits so hard to overcome？ Is there a key to conquering the cravings we know are unhealthy for us？
This book provides groundbreaking answers to the most important questions about addiction。 Dr。 Judson Brewer， a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has studied the science of addictions for twenty years， reveals how we can tap into the very processes that encourage addictive behaviors in order to step out of them。 He describes the mechanisms of habit and addiction formation， then explains how the practice of mindfulness can interrupt these habits。 Weaving together patient stories， his own experience with mindfulness practice， and current scientific findings from his own lab and others， Dr。 Brewer offers a path for moving beyond our cravings， reducing stress， and ultimately living a fuller life。
“I found [The Craving Mind] to be one of the best things I’ve read 。 。 。 on addiction。”—Ezra Klein， New York Times。
“Accessible and enjoyable。 The Craving Mind brilliantly combines the latest science with universal real-life experiences—from falling in love to spending too much time with our phones。”—Arianna Huffington
We are all vulnerable to addiction。 Whether it’s a compulsion to constantly check social media， binge eating， smoking， excessive drinking， or any other behaviors， we may find ourselves uncontrollably repeating。 Why are bad habits so hard to overcome？ Is there a key to conquering the cravings we know are unhealthy for us？
This book provides groundbreaking answers to the most important questions about addiction。 Dr。 Judson Brewer， a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has studied the science of addictions for twenty years， reveals how we can tap into the very processes that encourage addictive behaviors in order to step out of them。 He describes the mechanisms of habit and addiction formation， then explains how the practice of mindfulness can interrupt these habits。 Weaving together patient stories， his own experience with mindfulness practice， and current scientific findings from his own lab and others， Dr。 Brewer offers a path for moving beyond our cravings， reducing stress， and ultimately living a fuller life。
Reviews
Marlin Cruz
，
This is free with my audible subscription and I decided to read it to tame my sugar cravings。 While it is interesting， I feel it’s incomplete。 That it is prematurely finished。 It does explain how the mind works when it comes to cravings and/or addiction and how to somewhat ride it out。 It promotes mindfulness and kind of tell us that mindfulness is the holy grail of combating anxiety & addiction。 But all I get are teasers。 Tiny tid bits on how to achieve mindfulness。 The book is 80% about storie This is free with my audible subscription and I decided to read it to tame my sugar cravings。 While it is interesting， I feel it’s incomplete。 That it is prematurely finished。 It does explain how the mind works when it comes to cravings and/or addiction and how to somewhat ride it out。 It promotes mindfulness and kind of tell us that mindfulness is the holy grail of combating anxiety & addiction。 But all I get are teasers。 Tiny tid bits on how to achieve mindfulness。 The book is 80% about stories of patient tests， anecdotes， personal addiction/experiences & retreats the author attended & people he met。 And then I got sucked into thinking that next next chapter will have the info I want to know but it never came。 It is interesting to note though that this author has a subscription-based training/session about smoking and food cravings。 Maybe that’s why I feel I’m not getting the information I want in this book？ This book is just a teaser to “subscribe”？If you find a good book about tips/trick to mindfulness and meditation， Id like to know please， because this book is definitely not that。 Im giving it 2 stars though because I learned something。 Not a great deal， but a lil something。 。。。more
Amanda Gallegos
，
Very tidy and useful。 Inspired me to seek local meditation。m center。
Blake
，
3。5 stars from me。 Conflicting thoughts on this book。 Overall， I think it's a GREAT book but it just has pretty significant problems。There's nuggets of wisdom here that will surely change my life and I'll carry with me， but they're sparingly scattered across such the dense read this is。 The premise of this book， at least from the introduction， sounded much like the premise of How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell， except for much more relatable to me。 He introduces this with the story of how stress w 3。5 stars from me。 Conflicting thoughts on this book。 Overall， I think it's a GREAT book but it just has pretty significant problems。There's nuggets of wisdom here that will surely change my life and I'll carry with me， but they're sparingly scattered across such the dense read this is。 The premise of this book， at least from the introduction， sounded much like the premise of How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell， except for much more relatable to me。 He introduces this with the story of how stress was impacting his life despite him doing all the right things such as leading backpacking trips， studying hard， getting enough sleep， sufficient social life， etc。 This was something I can relate to， but he never really touches back up on this - that feeling of stress despite doing all the right things。Much of it is， to be fair to the title， on habits such as cigarettes， smartphones， and love which， how he explains them， can surprisingly relate to a lot of other stressors in our life。 It's really helpful， but I think he goes into it a bit too much。 He goes hard against social media， which to an extent is warranted but whenever he's speaking on it， I can't help but feel like he's never actually used social media。 He included YouTube as a social media platform， which I feel like is a stretch， and he damn near equated social media to just posting selfies and monitoring for likes， failing to understand the nuance of utility in social media， especially for sites like Facebook。He mentions how we shouldn't create judgmental stories of others in our heads， but then he interpolates this entire desperate story of a girl at a museum。 He notes how he witnesses a girl take a selfie with her friend at a famous art museum。 That's all he encountered but from that he envisions that she immediately posts the picture to Facebook and is checking her likes the whole time instead of experiencing the museum。 He continues to come back to "people taking selfies，" aligning it to cigarette usage and such with no supposing of the idea that perhaps people don't always take selfies for gratification from others。 Myself， I like to take selfies with friends to remember moments between us and I rarely post on social media - I keep these photos in a Drive and like to go back through them and remember and appreciate time with friends。 I think this is how a lot of people think of their social media usage even。 Yes， comparison culture is worse because of social media， but it's not as black and white as he puts it。 While it does feel good when someone compliments my outfit or physique， ultimately I choose to do these things for the love of myself for myself， not for my relation to others。 。。。more
Alexander Fitzgerald
，
I can't say this was the snappiest or best read I've ever found on the topic， but it did fill in some gaps when it came to my understanding of addiction。 It's on Audible Plus if you're subscribed to that。 It's worth a listen if you're curious about why people do so many behaviors that they loathe。 I can't say this was the snappiest or best read I've ever found on the topic， but it did fill in some gaps when it came to my understanding of addiction。 It's on Audible Plus if you're subscribed to that。 It's worth a listen if you're curious about why people do so many behaviors that they loathe。 。。。more
Lisa
，
Really great book。 Everything Judson Brewer writes is so informative。 The only negative was they narrator （not Brewer） for the audiobook sounds like a robot。
JC
，
Glad I read it and will probably need to reread it。 A few useful concepts and ways to look at things。 It thread the line between science and religious concepts very carefuly。
Hendrik Strauss
，
Great synthesis of buddhist psychology and neuroscience。 Made me more aware of my self referential thinking and taught me much about the possibility to leave this circle in order to join live with curiosity and compassion。 One aspect which really stuck with me is the comparison of meditation with reading an engaging book。 The deeper you are into the book， the more you focus on it， not seeking the end but it's continuation。Now I go around actively wishing people to be interested， full of wonder a Great synthesis of buddhist psychology and neuroscience。 Made me more aware of my self referential thinking and taught me much about the possibility to leave this circle in order to join live with curiosity and compassion。 One aspect which really stuck with me is the comparison of meditation with reading an engaging book。 The deeper you are into the book， the more you focus on it， not seeking the end but it's continuation。Now I go around actively wishing people to be interested， full of wonder and joyfull in their experience。 What good that does to them， I can't say， but it helps me to be less contracted in thinking and less abstracted from the people around me。 。。。more
Cristina
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Not just about "cravins" or addiction， but a fine look at thought patterns triggers/rewards for mental patterns。 Not just about "cravins" or addiction， but a fine look at thought patterns triggers/rewards for mental patterns。 。。。more
Jack
，
Rating provisional on eventually reading the paper version; content seemed wonderful， but the audiobook's narrator did a poor job， thus necessitating a revisit。 Rating provisional on eventually reading the paper version; content seemed wonderful， but the audiobook's narrator did a poor job， thus necessitating a revisit。 。。。more
Javier Azabache
，
Practical， easy to understand， evidence basedVery good read。 Based on scientific evidence， which is presented， yet， easy to understand。 Useful， pragmatic， provides tools to use in your everyday life。 Highly recommended。
Colton Myers
，
This is a good tour of the habit loop and addiction and meditation。 It was an easy read and definitely brings some insight into addiction。 But I thought it could have had more concrete practical advice。 The reality is that RAIN is the main piece of advice， along with a big dose of meditation for general mindfulness。Anyway， read it if it sounds interesting or if you battle addiction， and then go hit up his Eat Right Now app because it has the practical daily stuff much better。 （At least for eatin This is a good tour of the habit loop and addiction and meditation。 It was an easy read and definitely brings some insight into addiction。 But I thought it could have had more concrete practical advice。 The reality is that RAIN is the main piece of advice， along with a big dose of meditation for general mindfulness。Anyway， read it if it sounds interesting or if you battle addiction， and then go hit up his Eat Right Now app because it has the practical daily stuff much better。 （At least for eating）。 3。5 stars 。。。more
Stuart Enkey
，
I'm not a huge fan of CBT for all issues。 This book shows how it combined with meditation and practice is a great fit for some。 I'm not a huge fan of CBT for all issues。 This book shows how it combined with meditation and practice is a great fit for some。 。。。more
Cynthia
，
This book had some interesting ideas connecting meditation to developing better habits。
Maksim Tkachenko
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Полезное замечание о том， что можно заменить позитивное подкрепление нежелательных привычек。 Все сводится к простому нарушению работы дофамина в мозге и личному опыту использования медитации автором， чтобы справится с зависимостями。 Все таки мне кажется с зависимостями все немного сложнее。 Также автор много нахваливает кпт。 Немного натянутой кажется позиция относительно соцсетей и смартфонов， но вот я пишу в соцсети на смартфоне， так что доля правды в этом есть。 Книга больше подходит широкой пуб Полезное замечание о том， что можно заменить позитивное подкрепление нежелательных привычек。 Все сводится к простому нарушению работы дофамина в мозге и личному опыту использования медитации автором， чтобы справится с зависимостями。 Все таки мне кажется с зависимостями все немного сложнее。 Также автор много нахваливает кпт。 Немного натянутой кажется позиция относительно соцсетей и смартфонов， но вот я пишу в соцсети на смартфоне， так что доля правды в этом есть。 Книга больше подходит широкой публике， которая совсем не знакома с психологией， даже для интересующихся она может показаться простоватой 。。。more
Jed
，
This is a strange combination of psychology book， self help book， and Buddhist/mindfulness book。 I loved the psychology and the Buddhist parts but at times the self help parts took over。 In a cheesy way。 Almost like a bad editor injected a bunch of modern self-help filler just to increase the number of pages。 I would have given 3 stars for that， but the mindfulness stuff really was excellent。
Leah
，
The topic is incredibly interesting and the author obviously knowledgeable， but the book is not well written。 It's choppy， filled with （ironically） self-referential stories about the author's own experiences， and doesn't really provide much instruction， unless you count the the epilogue promoting his startup。 He seems to try to write a hybrid of a pop science and self help book and a memoir and it just doesn't hold together。 The topic is incredibly interesting and the author obviously knowledgeable， but the book is not well written。 It's choppy， filled with （ironically） self-referential stories about the author's own experiences， and doesn't really provide much instruction， unless you count the the epilogue promoting his startup。 He seems to try to write a hybrid of a pop science and self help book and a memoir and it just doesn't hold together。 。。。more
Jennifer Kellogg
，
i love all the anecdotal stories with the science to back up the results。 It really didn't help with food cravings like I was hoping。 i love all the anecdotal stories with the science to back up the results。 It really didn't help with food cravings like I was hoping。 。。。more
Eric
，
The book had some interesting insights into addiction， but a lot of it was ground covered elsewhere。 If you are currently trying to kick a habit， this book might be just what you need， but it is not a magic bullet kind of work。
Aniketvishwarupe
，
One of the best books on addiction。 Not just substance addiction but thinking （daydreaming） addictions as well。 Very well written。
Bill Murphy
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Kind of dullFelt a bit disjointed and ，wandered to an uninspired conclusion。 Lots of great books out there on mindfulness， this isn’t one of them。
Kasia
，
This book was a bit confusing to read。 I agree with one of the previous reviews - all you will really learn from it is in the first chapter。 This is also the only part of the book that is actionable。 I have tried out the RAIN technique to ‚ride the wave’ of cravings and and it does offer a great insight into the working of one’s brain。 Otherwise， a nice book to read if you are really into mindfulness and meditation。
Mehrsa
，
It was a dry book at times， but it's such useful knowledge and research。 It's not exactly self-help or scientific discovery but can be an on-ramp into both。 I'm not sure how useful the meditation brain scans are （I've heard that some of this research is questionable）， but I do think the answer to breaking any bad habit has got to be to sort of hijack that quick mental process of trigger and response and put some short break between the two。 Smoking is obviously the hardest habit to break for mos It was a dry book at times， but it's such useful knowledge and research。 It's not exactly self-help or scientific discovery but can be an on-ramp into both。 I'm not sure how useful the meditation brain scans are （I've heard that some of this research is questionable）， but I do think the answer to breaking any bad habit has got to be to sort of hijack that quick mental process of trigger and response and put some short break between the two。 Smoking is obviously the hardest habit to break for most people and the fact that they've gotten results through this method are encouraging。 The smart phone addiction is one we need to be dealing with and this book is a good place to start。 。。。more
Sam
，
Not life changing for me， but I didn't expect mindfulness and that was a pleasant surprise。 I have bad technology habits， and I think nearly everyone I know has a bad habit with their phone。 This was a good read for reflecting on what my bad habits are。 Not life changing for me， but I didn't expect mindfulness and that was a pleasant surprise。 I have bad technology habits， and I think nearly everyone I know has a bad habit with their phone。 This was a good read for reflecting on what my bad habits are。 。。。more
Dan
，
Talks to operant conditioning， reward based learning。 The cycle of trigger， behaviour， reward。 The idea in the book is to use mindfulness to question the value of the reward。
Daniel
，
I wasn't sure what I would get out of this book， as I have seen several talks and presentations by Judson Brewer and wasn't sure if there would be additional insightful information。 That being said he went further into addictions and also touched upon depression， borderline personality disorder， love， ruminative thinking， flow， and resilience。 I would definitely recommend watching some of his talks on the studies of PCC deactivation in the fMRI scanner as， for me at least， it is easier to follow I wasn't sure what I would get out of this book， as I have seen several talks and presentations by Judson Brewer and wasn't sure if there would be additional insightful information。 That being said he went further into addictions and also touched upon depression， borderline personality disorder， love， ruminative thinking， flow， and resilience。 I would definitely recommend watching some of his talks on the studies of PCC deactivation in the fMRI scanner as， for me at least， it is easier to follow visually and you can see yourself the outcomes of the meditator's thought processes more in real time。 I hope the apps he has developed end up helping a lot of people。Some may find it a bit unadvertised， as he does spend a significant amount of time discussing the Pāli Canon， which may be much more than many are interested in or ready for。 But it is likely helpful as he discusses mindfulness。 It is interesting how aligned the ancient teachings and what we currently know about neuroscience today are in many aspects。 A lot of the insights discussed personally resonated with me from my own meditation practice and I found this reassuring。 Overall， I thought it was very good and helpful in determining how we can become addicted to things and how addictions can be so much more than what we typically consider or associate addictions with。 And how our craving mind is still the same， and causing the same problems， that the Buddha discussed thousands of years ago。 。。。more
Chuck Smith
，
This book had a lot of ideas but lacked concrete takeaways for how to action any of them。 While mindfulness training is of interest to me， it seemed that meditation hijacked the book。 Overall， I felt this was a loosely connected handful of ideas instead of something organized， focused， and intentional。
Apzmarshl
，
I can't remember how I came upon this book。 I think it was during conference for non-neurotypical kids。 The speaker talked about addiction prevalence in society。 Anyway。。。。the point of the book is to be mindful。 I can't remember how I came upon this book。 I think it was during conference for non-neurotypical kids。 The speaker talked about addiction prevalence in society。 Anyway。。。。the point of the book is to be mindful。 。。。more
Vojtěch Tatra
，
You can be addicted to meditation too， especially as an escape tactic。 Nicely intertwined with personal experience 1。 This I wrote for the first 1/4 of the book: Not great， not terrible， but valid， yet sometimes vague。 Not too engaging， not much new for me in this book。 I perceive it as another "all mighty all solving mindfullness， prefferably in certified Kabat-Zinn Way" with not that convincing explanations in some parts if you are not enthusiastic enough （not in all parts， particulary those r You can be addicted to meditation too， especially as an escape tactic。 Nicely intertwined with personal experience 1。 This I wrote for the first 1/4 of the book: Not great， not terrible， but valid， yet sometimes vague。 Not too engaging， not much new for me in this book。 I perceive it as another "all mighty all solving mindfullness， prefferably in certified Kabat-Zinn Way" with not that convincing explanations in some parts if you are not enthusiastic enough （not in all parts， particulary those related to meditation effects）。 I can be a bit biased here， I dont have anything against meditation， rather about how it is sold out （yes I read McMindfulness。。。）。 But I read a lot about addiction and for some people there can be good introductory information， for me it is a but unstructured however。 The content itself is valid in a popular science way。 The language of the book is a bit dry for me （but this impression could be cause by the narrator too）。 The Addictive Brain from The Great Courses is better factually for me， Gabor Mate's In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts is better psychologically/psychotherapeutically - I would recommend them for further reading/listening， both are on Audible aswell。 I really liked description of BPD connection with damaged learning behavior in childhood， meditation effect on DMN and other neurological pathways。 I would probably name the book differently though - it connects some interesting areas together， but for me it isnt that much about addiction actually。 After the initial "Kabat-Zinn" stuff I would overal reccomend this book。 2。 After this first part I would say that I really liked how authors personal experience and scientific expertise connects with buddhist psychology。 I usually can judge rest of the book by its first parts， but this time it was wrong。 Perhaps I got much more critical mood when I started too。 I considered rewriting the whole review， but decided to let it stay as a message for me to the future and in the spirit of the book - watch your System I blurts。 3。To the afterword: does it not mindfulness training also optimalized and engeneered for being sold and in the same time called as a cure？ For example in the case of Headspace app it uses the same habit hooks as it claiming to fight against in other places - it can work for some， but for some it creates same problem it solves or sometimes just add to it。 It is a question if we can fight the fire with fire。 Sometimes yes， sometimes not。 Addiction to meditation is also a thing， meditation is just a tool that can be used badly as anything。 。。。more
Mercer Smith
，
Really interesting book。 The text ran the gamut: drugs， love， phone， even borderline personality disorder and it’s addictive tendencies。 Very informative， though not with a lot of practical advice to overcome said addictions。 That said， I really just wanted to understand the biology behind addiction， and this book fit that desire。
Dhiraj Bodkhe
，