Recovery Keys founder releases book on why addiction can overpower willpower

Dr. Jeremy Mirabile, founder of Recovery Keys in Ponte Vedra Beach, has published a new book that frames addictive illness as a neurobiological condition that can limit a person’s ability to stop using drugs or alcohol. The book is now available in print and digital formats and is aimed at patients, families, and clinicians.

Why it matters: - The book argues that addiction can override a person’s intention to stop, which could change how patients, families, and clinicians interpret relapse and recovery. - The framework is meant to replace shame-based thinking with a medical model for assessment, treatment matching, and recovery support. - The book is available now in print and digital formats, making the model accessible to a broader audience.

What happened: - Jeremy Mirabile, MD, ABPM-ADM, FASAM, MRO, CEO and Medical Director of Recovery Keys, released a new book titled The Homeostatic Reserve and Threshold Model: A Neurobiological Framework for Understanding Addictive Illness and Effective Treatment. - Recovery Keys is an inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment and rehab program in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. - Mirabile founded Recovery Keys in 2012. - The book draws on more than two decades of treating addiction and substance use disorders in Northeast Florida and the Jacksonville area. - The book is published by Awakening, Inc. under ISBN 979-8-9972003-0-5. - The book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. - More information is available at the addiction recovery book page.

The details: - Mirabile is board-certified in addiction medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. - Mirabile is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a Certified Medical Review Officer. - Recovery Keys is Joint Commission-accredited. - Recovery Keys offers inpatient care in Ponte Vedra Beach. - Recovery Keys also offers outpatient care in Ponte Vedra Beach. - The book’s core idea is that biological vulnerability, stress, trauma, learning, and impaired executive control can narrow a person’s freedom to choose. - The framework says treatment matched to severity and stage of healing can help rebuild the brain’s reserve. - The book is designed to help readers understand why insight and willpower alone are often not enough. - The book also aims to explain assessment and stage-matched care. - The model shifts the central question from “Why can’t I just stop?” to how the brain’s reserve can be rebuilt. - Mirabile said the book is meant to help a patient, a parent and a physician reach the same understanding of what recovery requires. - Patients may use the book to replace shame with understanding. - Patients may also use it to understand why early recovery can feel so hard. - Families may use the book to better understand the biological challenges a loved one faces. - Families may also use it to see why patience and the right support matter. - The book is also intended for healthcare professionals. - Clinicians may use it as a practical bridge between neuroscience and clinical decisions. - Clinicians may use it for assessment, severity, stage of healing, treatment matching, and ASAM-based assessment.

Between the lines: - The book’s framing reflects a broader shift in addiction care toward viewing substance use disorder as a chronic medical condition rather than a moral failing. - By linking neuroscience to treatment decisions, the book tries to make complex clinical concepts usable for both families and providers. - The emphasis on stage-matched care suggests Mirabile is pushing for more individualized treatment instead of one-size-fits-all recovery advice.

What's next: - Recovery Keys will continue offering medical detox, residential treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient care, and aftercare in Ponte Vedra Beach. - Readers seeking more information can visit Recovery Keys or call (904) 551-1394. - The book’s clinical framework may prompt further discussion among patients, families, and addiction treatment professionals about how recovery is assessed and matched to severity.

The bottom line: - Mirabile’s book positions addiction as a brain-based illness that can limit choice, and it offers a treatment framework built around rebuilding capacity rather than relying on willpower alone.