Reading a book and taking no action will do nothing more than allow you to say you read the book. Books on drug and alcohol addiction do not make you better; you have to take action and find guidance from someone other than just yourself. If you read the book of Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous and did nothing more than that, chances are you wouldn’t be any soberer than you are now; it is possible, yet highly unlikely. Knowledge may be power, but taking action is what brings change. Having been in recovery Sober Home for many years, and working here at Shatterproof, I often get asked to recommend books about addiction. So here’s a list of my all-time favorite reads about substance use disorders. I started reading addiction memoirs in college, well before I admitted to having an alcohol use disorder. Why else would I have been mesmerized by When a Man Loves a Woman or 28 Days in my early 20s? These movies and books let me know I was not alone, that there were other people walking around who drank like I did.

I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling with alcohol. The book discusses one justification for drinking alcohol in each chapter. That reasoning is then refuted with common sense and medical data. Dupuy uses stories and examples from his life as well as other addicts to explain many aspects of recovery, including treatment plans, assessments, and approaches to relapse prevention. A tale of survival more than recovery, Díaz’s memoir is about unlearning the powerful ideas we are raised with – in this case, that violence and chaos are normal. Díaz writes of her childhood in a public housing project in Puerto Rico and, later, Miami Beach, and an adolescence marked by “juvenile delinquency” and marred by violence, addiction, mental illness, and abuse.

The best books and drinking and recovery from alcohol addiction

Of those who have had similar experiences can be an excellent compliment to treatment. Medical Daily offers links to items to help our readers find interesting products. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. According to an observational study, even moderate drinking contributes to cognitive decline. This book provides wisdom and information for all Adult Children of dysfunctional families….

Extremely timely as more and more children are being raised by grandparents due to their parent’s addiction. Krosoczka is a well-known children’s illustrator and author who didn’t realize till later in life that his mother is an addict. Growing up, he was raised by his grandparents after she can no longer care for his basic needs due to being in and out of rehab and his father is out of the picture. This memoir tells of her painful descent from depression into drug addiction and, eventually, how she broke free.

How To Stop Worrying And Start Living

Debut novel from Nico Walker who wrote it while incarcerated for bank robbery. The honest and accurate portrayal of addiction and withdrawal has led to it being called the “first great novel of the opioid epidemic”. Ryan Hampton is a former White House staffer and opioid addict who is now a national recovery advocate with ten years clean. Overall, the message is uplifting, giving hope of new directions and possibilities for treatment. They call into question the beliefs we’ve been raised with, and stereotypes of addiction.

This is an excellent resource for families, friends and any health care provider who treats patients with addiction disorders. This book describes a more holistic approach to recovery by combining treatments of the past with the latest knowledge and techniques. More than just a memoir, this book is about the societal traps that lead us to drink, how drinking affects our brains and our bodies, and the psychology and neuroscience behind it all. At the age of 15, Cat Marnell began to unknowingly “murder her life” when she became hooked on the ADHD medication prescribed to her by her psychiatrist father. TheEmpathy Examsauthor’s stunning book juxtaposes her own relationship to addiction with stories of literary legends like Raymond Carver, and imbues it with rich cultural history. The result is a definitive treatment of the American recovery movement — a memoir in the subgenre like no other. The majority of “experts” will tell you that you can never drink again if you’re an “alcoholic.” But in fact, there are people who have transcended alcohol addiction and proceeded to drink minimally. Next to running sprints and lifting heavy weights, reading is my favorite way to let go of stress and achieve a renewed sense of possibility.

The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking

Most people think of an intervention as something you see on television. Senate for 18 years and was the 1972 Democratic candidate for president. Rarely has a public figure addressed such difficult, intimate issues with such courage and bravery. In a moving, passionate memoir, former Senator George McGovern recalls the events leading up to his daughter Terry’s death as a result of alcoholism. A raw page-turning memoir spans Tiffany’s life as an active opioid addict, her 120 days in a Florida jail and her eventual recovery. Allen Berger’s 12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery gives concise advice on how to hunt down the personal culprits that sabotage sobriety. Berger explores the 12 most commonly confronted beliefs and attitudes that can sabotage recovery and provides tools for working through these problems in daily life. Alcohol Explained is the definitive, ground-breaking guide to alcohol and alcoholism. It explains how alcohol affects human beings on a chemical, physiological, and psychological level, from those first drinks right up to chronic alcoholism…. He comes from the book publishing world and, again, was someone who was successful and smart, but in active addiction.

Immediate New York Times bestseller and released to high praise, Journalist Beth Macy focuses on central Appalachia as the heart of crisis and widens the scope from there to show how individuals and communities are affected. Through talking to opioid users, family members, dealers, doctors, judges, activists, emergency responders, and law enforcement, we get a much larger picture of the causes and effects. Carr removes all the glamour from smoking and helps retrain the mind to realize how devastating ingesting this substance really is. And I promise you, you’ll have the best life that you could ever have imagined. Allen Carr also has a book titled“Allen Carr’s easy way to stop smoking”which is number thirteen on this book list.

“The Big Book” has helped millions of people in their journey towards sobriety, as the stories told by Dr. Bob and Bill W. Are relatable, and also because the 12-step process is one means of recovery that is widely accepted. The tension between on the wagon/off the wagon is often good fodder for literature. Early sobriety forces, like giving birth, a quick and complete break with a former life in order to make way for a new, sometimes ambiguously desired one. The book ends on a hopeful bottom, where Don is clear-eyed and ready to give not drinking another chance. It is the new day that every drunk faces each time they quit again. 5,387 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.

Opening a good book every night before bed was one of my first strategies for finding a replacement activity for drinking alcohol. Chances are, if you’re reading this article, it is time for an intervention. Once it has come to a point where you are thinking about it, you have gone past the ability to correct the problem with preventative measures. Substance users and their families will always have an intervention by society, and they have no control over the timing of this. Whether it is health, marital, or legal concerns, an intervention will always occur. The question is, why are you waiting for the substance user to get to the bottom and want help when the family is already there? Waiting for the substance user leads to inaction, usually resulting in interventions more likely to punish them than help them recover. We can not stress enough the importance of doing something when children are being affected. As we said above, if you don’t want to help yourself or the substance user, that is on you.

Rewired: A Bold New Approach to Addiction and Recovery – Erica Spiegelman

It takes one to know one, as the saying goes, and Mr. Hanson knows from personal experience and extensive investigative research what it’s like to struggle with addiction. Underrated and underread, this book is right up there with the best on the subjects of addiction and recovery. We think as we’re getting sober, in spite of the fact that by the time we quit drinking, we’re not typically leading very glamorous lives. The reminder that sober life need not be ascetic or dull is welcome to seasoned veterans of recovery and newcomers alike, but I think the best books on alcohol addiction blueprint here for an abundant life of pleasure could be useful for anyone. I first read this book in high school, and revisited it after I quit drinking. I found that the addition of life experience, especially my struggle with alcohol, imbued this book with renewed significance. This is a great read for building your self-esteem back up from the ashes of alcohol addiction. The other group is ACOA, which stands for Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families. As we stated above, alcoholics are addicts, and their drug of choice is alcohol.

Under the Influence,” authors James Robert Milam and Katherine Ketcham dispel this and other myths. They discuss recovery, how to help someone with alcoholism, how to increase the chances of a successful recovery, and how to tell if you or someone you love has alcoholism. The book has been in print for decades and remains an important resource. We’ve rounded up the best books for people with addiction and those that love them. Cupcake Brown was 11 when she was orphaned and placed into foster care. She grew up with a tragic journey, running away and becoming exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sex at a young age, and leaning on those vices to get by. A Piece of Cake is her gripping tale of crashing down to the bottom and crawling back to the top. Without treatment, it can impair your life and your ability to function. A trained therapist or psychologist can help find the right treatment plan for you or a loved one with consideration and compassion.