There’s a long, beautiful history of writers chronicling how they’ve dealt with alcoholism and addiction. My Catholic inner child considers this attraction to femme addiction narratives perverse. As a writer dealing with shameful topics, there is the risk of character annihilation, alienation from those we want to love and be loved by. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, MATClinics is here to help. We have outpatient treatment centers across Maryland filled with dedicated and compassionate staff. This book details her 15-year battle with the drug and how she finally overcame her addiction.
Science Daily: Mind & Brain
As a family-owned and operated company, we demonstrate our values each day. We respect individual employees for their unique potential and hold ourselves accountable for helping them to achieve their goals. After reading this book, you will feel empowered and better equipped for the task ahead. Annie’s book offers a great mix of practical advice and scientific research, which I’ve always found helpful. I want to know what the science says but also how other people have applied that knowledge in ways that actually helped them quit. Learning how to socialize without drinking is like learning a whole new language, say Spanish.
The Recovering by Leslie Jamison
The Recovering, when it operates as Alcoholics Anonymous a memoir, is equally lucent; the reader is ferried into the perils of addiction by a nimble, stylish narrator. Jamison, 34, is the author of a novel (The Gin Closet) and a well-received collection of essays (The Empathy Exams). It largely succeeds in moving away from an overly academic tone, thanks mostly to personal narration; as Jamison recounts her decision to move to Nicaragua in her early 20s, she lays out what she hoped to gain from the travel.
Stories About Loving Someone with an Addiction
Alcohol Explained is a spectacularly helpful guide on alcohol and alcoholism. Author William Porter uses the science of the brain and psychology to help you understand the effects of alcohol on your body and mind. He also offers step-by-step instructions for starting recovery and sticking with it. One valuable point from this book is that not everyone needs to reach a “rock bottom” before quitting alcohol. Sometimes, a slow realization of enough being enough is all it takes to start your recovery. The Sober Diaries follows the narrative of author Clare Pool’s journey in quitting drinking.
- In and out of rehab, he falls into relapse, engaging in toxic relationships and other self-destructive behaviors that threaten to undo the hard-won progress he’s made.
- Part memoir and part how-to, many former drinkers credit Alcohol Lied to Me with helping them to finally beat the bottle.
- Told in the present tense (another rarity in autobiography), the result is a stunningly immersive and intimate story.
- Plus, I wanted to give you my honest reviews based on books I’ve actually read (something not every website does).
Must-Read Memoirs of Mental Illness
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. He gives readers a firsthand account of the thoughts and feelings that an addict wrestles with. Many readers that struggle with addiction resonate with Nick and his rocky journey to recovery. Although both men and women struggle with best addiction memoirs substance abuse, the issues that influence a woman’s descent into addiction and journey to sobriety are unique.
The book is short, easy to read, and will leave you with some immediate tools for addressing social situations, sex, and friendship while navigating an alcohol-free lifestyle. A 1996 bestseller, Caroline Knapp paints a vivid picture of substance use and recovery that every reader can appreciate, whether you struggle with substance use or not. Knapp writes elegantly about her 20+ years of ‘high-functioning drinking’. Winning career accolades by day and drinking at night, Knapp brings you to the netherworld of alcohol use disorder. I started reading addiction memoirs in college, well before I admitted to having an alcohol use disorder.
2000’s Cherry picked up the story by showing Karr as an adolescent, already dabbling with drugs and profoundly lacking any sense of belonging. Wherever you are on your journey to recovery, this practical guide to dealing with emotional and psychological challenges is here to help. Clinical psychologist Lisa M. Najavits imparts her three decades of experience treating patients to create this research-based manual. In it, you’ll learn how to cultivate coping skills, confront personal struggles and alter your behaviors in a more positive direction. This addiction recovery book is also helpful for family and friends looking to support a loved one as they recover.
Heroin
Russell Brand’s “Recovery” is a modern classic in the self-help section of books about addiction. Drawing from his personal experiences, Brand introduces actionable strategies for overcoming addiction. His approach combines humor with honesty, making it relatable for people who have lost sight of themselves due to addiction. In her early 20s, writer Jamison (The Empathy Exams) started drinking daily to ease her chronic shyness and deal with the stress of getting her master’s degree at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.