Whether or not it is a disease, enabling, codependency, and playing out counterproductive family roles does not correct it. There are many diseases globally, and they all have their suggested solutions. One of the problems we see with addiction is that some of the suggested solutions by way of consequences and accountability is different than almost every other disease.

This Naked Mind by Annie Grace is one of the most loved sobriety books ever written. In it, Annie talks about her own experiences with addiction while keeping things deeply relatable to anyone who’s questioned alcohol’s role in their life. Ann Dowsett Johnston brilliantly weaves her own story of recovery with in-depth best alcoholic memoirs research on the alarming rise of risky drinking among women. The marketing strategies employed to sell booze to women are as alarming as the skyrocketing number of women who qualify as having alcohol use disorders. Ann’s book is such a unique and insightful combination of personal experience and scientific research.

This Naked Mind

A relationship is, among other things, a shared story – or sometimes, a mutually held delusion. The book serves as a powerful corrective to the fallacy that queer relationships are by nature egalitarian. And the reader roots for Machado fiercely as she finds her way out. Clare Pooley intertwines personal victories, research, and answers to FAQs about quitting alcohol in her memoir, The Sober Diaries. In a light-hearted manner, Pooley addresses the culture that supports alcohol abuse and describes her journey to sobriety. Readers appreciated her ability to intertwine humor into her accounts of recovery.

Substance users and their families may be the least qualified people to read a self-help book and then go and try and fix a problem themselves. The substance user and their family will most likely read the material through a distorted lens. With that being said, many books are great reads, including Alcoholics Anonymous, which is not a self-help book but rather a textbook of insight and suggestion. None of the suggestions are to correct the problem without help and a solution from someone other than yourself.

Recommended Books on Drug and Alcohol Addiction

He is the owner of Sunshine Nutraceuticals LLC. Michael is the author of a blog focusing on living a happy, healthy, healing lifestyle. Grisel explains how mind-altering drugs work and how the brain learns to adapt to their effects. Since the brain has an infinite ability to adapt, there is never drug to satisfy the person.

• You could never tell, but she is the perfect example of a high-functioning alcoholic who looks like everything is perfect, even when it clearly isn’t.
• None of the suggestions are to correct the problem without help and a solution from someone other than yourself.
• This is one of the first books I read when I realized that I had a serious problem with drinking.
• I have personally watched many people die because they overdosed or abused their bodies to the point of no return.
• Unvarnished accounts of the havoc and disaster of addiction, whether played for farce or pathos, are as reliably found in the most artistically ambitious addiction memoirs as in the least.

When we aren’t posting here, we build programs to help people quit drinking. When we aren’t posting here, we build programs to help people quit drinking. With incredible wit and skill, Sacha Scobie manages to tell you both what alcohol used to mean for her and how her sober life is going now. She relied on alcohol, so now that this is no longer an option she has to re-evaluate everything in her life, which leads to some great and very witty observations on her newfound life. That bottle of merlot was all Kerry Cohen could think about as she got through her day. She did all she had to do but always with this reward on top of her mind.

Drink: The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol by Ann Dowsett Johnston

Drop the Rock digs deeper into steps six and seven of the twelve-step program. The authors describe anger, fear, intolerance, and self-pity as the“rocks”that can sink the recovery process. This list would not be complete without a book about America’s opiate crisis. As a health care professional, I see the effects of this crisis daily.

Despite its dark beginning, this is ultimately a hopeful book that inspires readers to root for her throughout. Her confessional style of writing has left an indelible mark that remains influential today. Using her relatable voice, which is equal parts honest and witty, Holly tackles the ways that alcohol companies target women. She also divulges the details on her emerging feminism, an alternate way out of her own addiction, and a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone who is questioning their own relationship with alcohol. At the end of the day, this memoir is a groundbreaking look into our current drinking culture while providing a road map to cut alcohol out of our lives so that we can truly live our best lives. Chaney Allen’s book was the first recovery memoir that was published by a Black woman author.

An intervention is not about how to control the substance user; it is about how to let go of believing you can.

They all succeed in doing what superb writing does—they jolt us into a sense of intimate contact with whatever they’re describing, making the world new for us. The cost of survival … Oprah Winfrey as Sethe in the 1998 film version of Beloved.

• She writes with evocative prose about the anxiety that fueled her addiction to masturbation as a young girl, and eventually, her sex and pornography addiction as an adult.
• Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder impacts every facet of a person’s daily life, from their home rituals and professional career to interacting with society at large.
• Her story tells the story of a minister’s daughter who grew up poor in Alabama, eventually moving to Cincinnati and falling into substance use disorder, all while raising children.
• And it’s also inspiring when it comes to recovery and treatment.

Most notably, it’s a brutally honest — and hilarious — reflection on the late writer’s path to sobriety. When I stopped drinking alcohol, I was desperate to know the stories of other people who’d also taken this road less traveled. During the most unsettling time of my life, I craved all the messy, tragic, complex, wonderful stories that could show me what was on the other side.

OUR DAY JOBS

Below is a list of books to enrich your recovery experience by helping you understand your relationship with alcohol. Some are newer, while others have stood the test of time and continue to provide value. As you will discover, one of the themes across these books is the surprising joy found in sober https://ecosoberhouse.com/ lifestyles. In the end, sobriety is often described as a privilege rather than a chore. Having been in recovery 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.

This is just how it has always been since her introduction to Southern Comfort when she was just fourteen. She had already beat alcohol in the past, but there was nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of her child with some champagne, right? In this book, she narrates the year in which she went from a cancer diagnosis to her happiest and best self. Her journey covers sobriety, beating cancer, and building a richer life than she’d ever imagined. Beneath her perfect life and incredible success hides a girl who thought she had cheated her way out of her anxiety and stress via alcohol, only to find that she has surrendered to the powers of this magical liquid. She is the perfect example of a high-functioning alcoholic whose life looks perfect on the outside, even as it crumbles on the inside.

Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction

But she ultimately forges a path ahead to find a new life worth living. This book will resonate with those who’ve had a tough time at rock bottom. Whether you want to better understand the mindset of addiction or find inspiration in how they got out of it, these memoirs are nothing short of inspiring. There are certain jobs that are simply more difficult; being an Emergency Room physician is certainly one of them. This may be why so many ER doctors get burned out or deal with addiction issues. For Dr. Remy, his job meant waking up one morning to find himself in rehab for alcohol use disorder.

As we believe and as the book suggests, you may not have control over the addict directly, and you do have control over how you cope, react, and treat yourself concerning your loved one’s addiction. Families often increase the addiction problem and may or may not believe the help they provide will one day pay off. Addiction does not improve by providing the affected person with resources, housing, food, comfort, and other forms of counterproductive support.

A new horror film explores how the hardest person to learn to love is sometimes yourself. I did many things I am deeply ashamed of, and reading her book taught me that I am not alone. I very much related to her always feeling “less than” in normal life, and only becoming confident and alive once she poured alcohol down her throat. Vote up the best binge-drinking memoirs, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section. We may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through links on our website.