Any of these conditions suggests it would make sense to stop drinking. Pamela D Pesta gives you a snapshot inside the mind of someone descending into full-blown alcoholism. In Dopesick, Macy brings to life unemployed chancers using addiction recovery books opioids to blot out the boredom and wealthy youngsters trading illicit pills for kicks. The opioid epidemic claimed over 450,000 victims between 1999 and 2018 as opioid painkillers were aggressively prescribed in the late 90s.

• And I promise you, you’ll have the best life that you could ever have imagined.
• Countless books have been written about how to overcome addiction and how to get one’s life back on track.
• Another underrated and underread book, this memoir traces one woman’s descent into heroin hell and, ultimately, her recovery and redemption.
• Jerry Stahl was a writer with significant and successful screenwriting credits – Dr. Caligari, Twin Peaks, Moonlighting, and more.

As you work through the recovery process, you may find these addiction recovery books valuable. Whether you prefer firsthand accounts or polished, scientific writing, there’s a book on this list that will pique your interest. Provides insight and meaning to the adult child of an alcoholic and addict. Tony is the Co-Founder of ACOA and provides insight into a child’s struggles while raised in a dysfunctional home. The book’s authors do a great job of helping the reader understand how their experiences have profoundly impacted the affected person’s relationships with others.

The 15 most powerful memoirs about addiction and recovery

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”. Author Maia Szalavitz shows us, through her own history, how the current disease model of addiction is not accurate. Science is used to back up the theory that addiction is not just willpower, or a “broken brain” but instead a learning/developmental disorder that lies on a spectrum. This book is powerful because it removes the stigma and takes a 21st-century look at an age-old problem. If you are wondering how you or your loved one got to a place where addiction took hold this book will help to provide you answers. Learning more about addiction can help you make sense of your struggles and inspire you to seek a life of sobriety. While books are a useful tool, you deserve support from trained professionals in your journey to recovery. The raw and deeply personal struggles of addiction come to the surface in this bestselling book. In it, Nick Sheff gives a detailed depiction of his daily struggles as an addict. In recovery, the best lessons are found in the experience, strength and hope of others' recoveries. Check out our new webinar series that unites recovery speakers from across the country in order to share a collective set of strategies and expertise. But tough love can damage relationships and create long-lasting wounds, all while failing to change the behavior it intends to. Dr. Roy took the time to talk to us about harm reduction, the effectiveness of addiction medications, and the inspiring resilience she sees in her patients. I used to work in fashion/beauty/celebrity PR, and I related to her lifestyle before she got sober.

The Big Book of Cocaine

And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time. I have it in my head that when we’re born, God writes things down on our hearts. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family’s apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded–she’s also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. When counseling clients, we will frequently cite excerpts and recommend reading from books that present a particularly insightful or influential point of view. In recent years, a growing number of famous figures have authored books about their battles with addiction – seeking to help others who struggle to learn from their experience. Authors who successfully transition from addiction to long-term recovery often serve to inspire readers who identify with them. The best books on addiction teach us about the commonalities of the disease and the fact that a great number of people ultimately do recover. Here are list of five addiction and recovery books we’ve been referencing and recommending lately. Is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Through charitable support and a commitment to innovation, the Foundation is able to continually enhance care, research, programs and services, and help more people. Millions of Americans currently suffer from drug and alcohol addiction, yet many of those people feel alone or misunderstood.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Addiction

Kolker doesn’t focus solely on the kids who were diagnosed, but also the impact on those who weren’t sick. It’s an important reminder that mental health and addiction impact not only the person with the condition, but those in their life. Based on Fisher's hugely successful one-woman show, Wishful Drinking is the story of growing up in Hollywood royalty, battling addiction, and dealing with manic depression. Her first memoir is an inside look at her famous parents' marriage and her own tumultuous love affairs (including her on-again, off-again relationship with Paul Simon). The book provides practical skills to change the self-sabotaging way a person thinks using four actionable steps. Recommended by Deb PalmerFrom Deb's list onthe best books portraying addiction and family dysfunction with honesty, compassion, and humor. This bestselling book offers a glimpse into the much misunderstood phenomenon of internet pornography and what science is learning about this powerful addiction. Holistic Sober House approach to dealing with addictions and recovery. Full of self-assessments, exercises and strategies, you will learn mindfulness skills to help you deal with emotional issues, understand your addiction and discover new healthy coping behaviors. The premise is that addictions are learning disorders like autism. There is no single treatment that works for all, so treatment should be tailored to individual needs.

YA Books About Addiction and Recovery

Although they are not a replacement for drug and alcohol treatment, books about addiction and recovery are a great reminder that you are not alone. Reading about the personal experiences of others who have struggled with addiction is a great way to encourage and inspire yourself throughout the recovery process. I had my first drink at 12 and my first shot of heroin at 14. My brother and sister were also alcoholics and ended up taking their own lives. I abused drugs and alcohol for over 30 years, and after many failed attempts to turn my life around, I now have 15 years of continuous sobriety. I’ve also read almost ninety books on the topic of substance abuse and have written several myself about my personal struggles to get clean and sober and stay that way. According to Futures Case Manager Katie Dalo, this is a book every person on the planet should read a minimum of 10 times. As Katie describes the book, “it’s about radical acceptance, that you are perfectly imperfect and it’s o-freakin-k! ” Researcher Brene Brown has become immensely popular over the past handful of years, due in large part to her excellent TED Talks about vulnerability and shame. The book Emmy’s Question, written by Jeanine Auth, is about Emmy wanting an answer to why her mom chose alcohol over her. This addiction recovery book is also helpful for family and friends looking to support a loved one as they recover. I remember the first time I heard someone say that their church suggests God first, your spouse second, and your children third. As a parent myself, I remember thinking how foolish that sounded as I would die for my children as most would. Today I get it, especially if the child is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Even if God is not your thing, putting your spouse and yourself before your child’s addiction is highly recommended. When your child is ready for help, getting them help becomes a priority. Putting their addiction first and your spouse second often ends in turmoil, divorce, and the addiction problem becoming progressively worse. When you put your child’s addiction first and enable them, you are making them worse along with yourself and everyone else around you. The primary enabler puts all their attention on the substance user, and all other relationships take a back seat. While each family member is blaming the substance user, the real problem lies in the breakdown of the family. SMART Recovery offers more than a dozen handbooks and manuals for participants, volunteers and specialized audiences – featuring the 3rd edition of the SMART Recovery Handbook. Equally, Letting Go of the Thief is an empowering book if you have alcohol use disorder yourself. Painful, candid, and now the subject of a major movie, Beautiful Boy is the true story of the opioid epidemic that continues to cripple the US. Even if you feel your life has been shattered into a million little pieces, recovery is always possible. Is one of the best reviewed, most beloved memoirs of the year. Maybe these stories can help another young woman out there. The writer of the comedy television show Alf, Stahl tells his story of heroin addiction and his journey to recovery. Stahl describes his out-of-control behavior to get drugs, such as driving at midnight from his luxury home in Los Angeles to the worst neighborhoods in the city with his daughter in her car seat. He shares the hurdles he overcame to find a lasting sobriety. The book is empathetic, aiming to break the stigma surrounding addiction. He also discusses behavioral addictions, including his own. By David Sheff is the heart-breaking story of a father’s struggles to hold his family intact throughout his son’s battle with drug addiction. Sheff gives readers a first-hand account of a parent watching their child go from a healthy, charming little boy to a young man who was suffering from addiction and fighting for his life. It is a tale of one father’s relentless search for the right treatment for his son and the refusal to give up on him. 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 addiction recovery books 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. When a child does not feel love, attention, and affection, they can trust and form healthy relationships and bonds later in life. Many who have suffered this emotional abuse believe that if their own family did not love them or care, how could anyone else. Later in life, the affected person goes into relationships with escape hatches.