Chris Volkmann thought she had a nearly perfect family. Until her youngest son, Toren, called to tell her that he was in an alcohol drug treatment program. His recovery exercises and her responses formed the foundation of the book they wrote together, From Binge to Blackout; a Mother and Son Struggle with Teen Drinking.

"Once Toren's symptoms nearly broke him, both he and his mother faced the issue courageously. Chris takes responsibility for doing what many mothers are doing everywhere: ignoring her intuition and dismissing numerous clues as she holds on to her picture of their perfect life, and Toren takes responsibility for being a manipulative addict trying to keep his secret drinking problem from not just her, but himself."

The book is called "highly informative" because of the depth of information shared by both mother and son. Chris is honest about the "red flags" she saw but ignored, and she shares the wealth of self-taught information she learned after hearing of her son"s struggle. For his part, Toren gives readers an inside look at the life and mind of a teen binge drinker, dispelling many myths and misconceptions. Read more at GilroyDispatch.com.

Labels: binge_drinking, signs, treatment