I drink to escape reality and people, and I don’t feel like that is addressed very well in the book. I would not classify David Carr as a high functioning alcoholic or drug user. I can’t relate to much of Carr’s experience with drugs and alcohol, but I could connect to inner demons that drove him to it. If you’re struggling with alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder, don’t let the ongoing pandemic stop you from taking action. Marketed as a memoir, a 2006 Smoking Gun exposé suggested elements of the story had been fabricated. The acclaimed author of Prozac Nation goes from depression to addiction with this equally devastating personal account. Wurtzel reveals how drugs fueled her post-breakout period, describing with unbearable specificity how her doctor’s prescription of Ritalin, intended to help her function, only brought her down. In his follow-up to his first memoir, Tweak, which dealt with his journey into meth addiction, Sheff details his struggle to stay clean.
While based on her own sobriety journey, McKowen’s candidness has connected with thousands of readers thus far who have credited the book with helping them face getting sober. Sarah’s writing is sharp and relatable; a more recent, modern voice in the recovery space. So many of us look at “blacking out” as benign, or normal—an indicator of a “successful” night of drinking. In Blackout, Sarah clearly explains why there’s nothing benign about it and describes what is actually happening to the brain when we reach that point of alcohol-induced amnesia. I love her perspective on drinking as an act of counter-feminism—that in reality it actually dismantles our power, our pride, and our dignity as women, though we intended the opposite. Reading books about alcoholism is possible, and is as simple as downloading the PDF to a digital device that is readily accessible.
Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism
The paperback will be coming out in January 2021 everywhere books are sold, (but preferably from your local, independent bookshop!). As a child, Helaina Hovitz witnessed the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Being so close to this leaves her with a serious case of PTSD throws her into despair and later lands her in the throes of addiction. When she looked around she couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t alone.
- People can also use it as a drinks diary and a calculator to determine blood alcohol content.
- She often wondered if she was an alcoholic but was afraid of the answer.
- It is the heartbreaking and astute account of Sheff’s experience of his son, Nic’s, addiction and eventual recovery.
- Rather than push past the experience, Robbins wrote about it—and promptly went viral.
Seeing alcoholism as a disease was a scientific leap which “The Big Book” helped propel. The book is still read today, and is a serviceable tool for an individual suffering with alcoholism to help understand their addiction and find a long lasting solution. 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. 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. This Naked Mind,” a guide for people with alcoholism to discover what makes them happy without the bottle. The book is very well-researched, analyzes just how alcoholism happens, and dissects the relationship between drinking and pleasure. Grace assures readers recovery is more than a difficult process — it’s a path to happiness.
Other great books about addiction
I cracked up laughing as many times as I nodded my head in knowing, alcoholic agreement. The basic premise of this book is that she is letting us peek into her diary during her first year of sobriety. This book is beautiful, informative, and inspiring for anyone who is trying to change their relationship with alcohol. Specialist Erica Spiegelman highlights the importance of whole-body recovery. Designed to be alongside or in place of 12-step programs, you can use Rewired as a blueprint for a personalized and meaningful recovery plan.
Whitaker makes a personal journey universal by taking us under her wing as she shows us how hypocritical it is that alcohol is made to be a very innocuous beverage in a society supposedly obsessed with health and wellness. She sheds light on how big and small alcohol companies target women, on the patriarchal roots of traditional recovery communities, and begins to shrug off deep-seated beliefs and stigma about her own addiction. It’s empowering – Whitaker calls on women to come together to create a sober collective that is uniquely feminine. In her interrogation of women and our dependence on ‘wine to cope’, Whitaker exposes a side of society you have never seen. There are countless memoirs about addiction and recovery, but not quite so many about stopping drinking and its aftermath. When author Kristi Coulter stopped drinking, she began to notice the way that women around her were always tanked, and how alcohol affected those around her. This classic book in the sober-curious cannon takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the many varied relationships people can have with alcohol. It’s full of practical, actionable tips that empower readers to pursue positive change and honestly confront their behaviors around drinking. Alcoholism, or the inability to control drinking due to a physiological and cognitive/emotional dependence on the substance, affects many adults today.
I Got Sober And Learned To Like Myself Again
Byrne’s book teaches readers how to harness individual power to do amazing things in life. Particularly useful for matters of health and happiness, The Secret allows you to understand how you can make small mental shifts everyday to make drastic changes, and the rewards can sometimes be reaped almost immediately. Through instructions and testimony, The Secret will show you everything you need to know to best sober books begin living your alcohol-free dream. This is perhaps the most refreshingly life-changing book I’ve read in just about… forever. While many are skeptical of the self-help genre, I personally feel that a book gains significant credibility when it draws upon science and fact to support a personal narrative. This one likely feels very different from the rest of the books on this list – but hear us out.
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. Nobody in my real life could meet that need, so I turned—as I always do when I need comfort, encouragement, or inspiration—to books. Ann Dowsett Johnson’s book is one of the first that provides an in-depth exploration of the relationship between women and alcohol. In her book, a blend of personal narrative and investigative research, she explores the problem drinking that many women keep hidden and the rise of “big alcohol” deliberately targeting women to drink more and increase their profits. This book is both brave and highly educational, and it may well light a sober fire in your belly.
Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
It’s gritty, honest, and not the perfect, happy-ending we’re all looking for, but it’s real. This gem of a book by Clare Pooley is a nice departure from the intensely introspective books I just mentioned. And that’s not to say that it isn’t introspective (of course it is!) but it’s also funny and more lighthearted. Pamela D Pesta gives you a snapshot inside the mind of someone descending into full-blown alcoholism. With a behind-the-scenes look from the perspective of families and first-responders, you can see best sober books the effects of the opioid crisis up close and personal. Even if you feel your life has been shattered into a million little pieces, recovery is always possible. The more tools you have at your disposal, the more readily you can embrace the road to recovery. With COVID-19 still making our lives harder in many ways, we’re trying to share as many recovery resources with you as we can. Jerry Stahl was a writer with significant and successful screenwriting credits – Dr. Caligari, Twin Peaks, Moonlighting, and more.
What does 3 weeks without alcohol do to your body?
- More energy.
- Better sleep.
- More free time.
- Weight loss.
- Better memory.
- Improved skin.
- Reduced anxiety and depression.
- More money.
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. In Alcohol and You, a professional therapist describes scientifically supported methods of reducing or eliminating alcohol intake.
Why You Drink and How to Stop: A Journey to Freedom, by Veronica Valli
It’s practical, inspiring, and is guaranteed to help you create more meaning and find more purpose each day. Whether you’re navigating sobriety or moderation, Monument support groups allow you to hear from your peers, share and process thoughts and emotions, self-reflect, and practice accountability. If you’re looking for guidance, a place to start, or just want to know you’re not alone in your journey, these books on alcoholism and sobriety may help. Storyteller, speaker, and HuffPo contributor Laura Cathcart Robbins was inspired to start this podcast after being the only Black woman at a writing retreat. Rather than push past the experience, Robbins wrote about it—and promptly went viral. Despite centuries of study and suffering, addiction still lacks comprehensive medical and scientific support, but luckily that is changing. Board-certified physician Dr. Nzinga Harrison is dedicated to understanding addictions as a medical condition. Also the cofounder and chief medical officer of Eleanor Health, Harrison hosts this accessible and informative podcast in educational and ranging conversations on addiction, race, oppression, and drug policy.
Why do I look older after drinking alcohol?
Since alcohol depletes levels of vitamins, (especially vitamin A) the skin's collagen levels plummet. As a result, a person's skin may lose all elasticity and become wrinkled. Wrinkles may be caused by alcohol's ability to dehydrate the skin as well. Markedly, most heavy drinkers experience puffy and red faces.
Blackout is her poignant story of alcoholism and those many missing hours that disappeared when she had just enough to drink to wipe out her memory. Hepola gets through the darkest parts of her story with self-deprecating humor and a keen eye on what she was burying by drinking. I recently came to terms with my own problematic relationship with alcohol, and my one solace has been in books. I’ve dug into memoir after memoir, tiptoed into the hard science books, and enjoyed the fiction from afar. The following are a smattering of the books about alcoholism I’ve found meaningful. It takes guts to admit that you have an Sober House addiction to drugs or alcohol . These twenty-six authors have shown incredible bravery and resilience in sharing their most painful experiences and deepest vulnerabilities in public as they recount their roads to recovery. Janelle Hanchett chronicles the story of embracing motherhood through the devastating separation from her children at the height of addiction. Her quest for sobriety includes rehabs and therapy — necessary steps to begin a journey into realizing and accepting an imperfect self within an imperfect life. For any mother or person who has felt like an outsider in your own life, you might just relate.