10 Best Books About Addiction

Pain remains her creative engine and source of material — even if it’s not the stuff of epic. If, like so many others, you’ve lost sight of your own life in the drama of catering to someone else’s, you might be codependent–and you might be reading this book. This modern classic, a healing touchstone https://ecosoberhouse.com/ for millions, contains the key to understanding codependency and breaking its suffocating grip on your life. Allen is an expert in identifying and removing the psychological factors that lead to drinking. He shows why the benefits that individuals believe they receive from alcohol are fake.

That year led to 40 years as a writing coach and a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute. Jeanette Walls narrates her nomadic and adventurous childhood with her dreaming, ‘brilliant’ but alcoholic parents. At the age of seventeen she escapes on a Greyhound bus to New York with her older sister; her younger siblings follow later. After pursuing the education and civilisation her parents sought to escape, Jeanette eventually succeeds in her quest for the ‘mundane,…

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Need a New Book to Read? Check Out These Powerful Addiction and Recovery Memoirs

These stories were supposed to be inspiring, but I felt worse after reading them. If only I could make things terrible enough, then I would be worthy of quitting, of redemption, of recovery, of the brilliant promise of the other side. In college, in addition to vodka and more drugs, I also found Buddhist meditation, which helped somewhat with my mental health and feelings of pervasive unease. I read Dharma Punx by Noah Levine, which traced Noah’s path from son of one of the West’s most famous meditation teachers (Stephen Levine) to street punk and addict to sober meditation teacher. Levine was the founder of Refuge Recovery in Los Angeles, and self-proclaimed founder of a new lineage of punk rock Buddhism that was emerging in the early 2000’s.

• When it comes to addiction books, you have a lot of options to choose from.
• They also offer tips to support loved ones and ways to tell if you or someone you love may have alcohol use disorder.
• They kept me accountable through weekly page submissions and had my story’s back.

Finally, I held my nose and plunged into the deep end of self-publishing. I had been following industry newsletters for years, on the advice of my UCLA instructors. (One instructor had self-published her last book.) I looked to those trusted gurus for advice on publishing, book coaching and marketing. Quickly, I understood the literary world can be an exclusive club, no different from the Hollywood grind this relieved ex-actress had ditched. No college degree in literature, creative writing or even basket weaving — just an incomplete diploma from theater school.

Powerful Addiction Memoirs that Sober People Love

This book is a positive tale where she narrates the year in which she went from a cancer diagnosis to her happiest and best self ever. In this journey, she became sober, beat cancer, and finally built a richer life best memoirs about addiction than she could have possibly imagined. It’s a beautifully told story about how alcohol seduced her at fourteen and secretly subjugated her through her university years and most of her award-winning career.

The Big Fix is the true story of a heroin addict who overcame her addiction and returned to her life. She lived on the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District for many years. A father’s journey through his son’s addiction to crystal meth. David tries to understand how his charming, joyous, funny, varsity athlete and honor student son could turn into a liar and a thief and become homeless. David traces the first warning signs, and his preoccupation with his son becomes an addiction in itself.

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In her telling, an individual’s addiction emerges out of a confluence of the substance, family, childhood trauma, peers, culture, and timing. Recovery also develops from these same forces and that’s why one-size-fits-all treatment doesn’t work. Bringing journalistic rigor to his own life, Carr examines medical records, police reports, and legal documents and films interviews with 60 friends, family members, fellow addicts, and dealers. What he uncovers smashes his romanticized stories of partying and exposes painful truths about his drug-fogged years, but also charts his remarkable recovery. These pages are filled with the teachings of ancient Stoics such as Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus.

This powerful memoir follows Cain’s life as she navigates a substance use disorder, incarceration, and sex work over the course of 19 years. Healing Neen provides a personal look into the connection between incarceration, substance use, and trauma. Her story is a beautiful reminder of how safety and support can lead the way to incredible healing. I will read anything Clare Pooley writes simply because she is a magical storyteller. The Sober Diaries is one of the best books in the quit lit category. Funny, informative, and authentic, Poole has a welcoming light-hearted voice on the very serious topic of substance use.

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For instance, someone who wants a guide to follow may find an AA book helpful. But someone who doesn’t find AA appealing or helpful may prefer a book that explores substance use and addiction from a scientific perspective. If you have concerns about a loved one’s substance use, a good first step may involve an open conversation about your worries. You might share what you’ve noticed with your loved one, ask if they’ve considered getting support, and suggest researching treatment options together. Parents and teachers may find this book useful for guiding conversations about addiction and answering kids’ questions about people living with addiction. The memoir offers an in-depth exploration of the complexities of parent-child relationships amid substance use and addiction.

Although this book isn’t specifically about alcohol recovery, it has become a go-to guide in many recovery circles. (And for good reason!) Atomic Habits offers practical strategies for making meaningful changes to your habits and routines, one tiny step at a time. It includes research and quotable nuggets on how to immediately take steps toward behavior change. This book provides an eye-opening perspective on and insight into how racism and white supremacy can lead to intergenerational trauma. Resmaa Menakem shares the latest research on body trauma and neuroscience, as well as provides actionable steps towards healing as a collective.

Science Daily: Mind & Brain

The emotional burden of her past eventually led her to attempt to take her own life. In this essay collection, Coulter writes with wit about a life in transition — and what happens when you suddenly look up and realize that maybe everyone else isn’t quite doing things the right way. This memoir is a frank, feminist look at life after recovery. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

• She had a significant influence on me and I will be always thankful to her.
• And yet—even though each of these books goes its own way, never hesitating to flout a trope or trample a norm to serve its story—they don’t go in terror of the conventions either.
• This book is a positive tale where she narrates the year in which she went from a cancer diagnosis to her happiest and best self ever.
• This book functions as daily devotional with reflective meditations and modern day translations on how to improve your mental health.