The Best Addiction Memoirs Five Books Expert Recommendations

In fact, I started reading about addiction before I got sober–-perhaps because something in the very back of my mind was telling me that someday these books about addiction would be quite relevant to my life. Self-love can be one of the most beautiful things to come from a recovery journey. This best alcoholic memoirs book provides an amazing framework for embracing our true selves in a society that tries to tell us we’re not already whole as we are. If you struggle with anything related to body image, you won’t regret this read. This book may also help you see sobriety as a gift you’re giving to your body.

“The Sober Lush: A Hedonist’s Guide to Living a Decadent, Adventurous, Soulful Life–Alcohol Free”

• It’s a deep meditation on something like growing up poor, or having a debilitating mental illness, or living in a racist America.
• With nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in this anti-quest, he runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to acknowledge loss and, possibly, to rediscover his better instincts.

There are the manic episodes, during which he felt burdened with saving the world, juxtaposed against the real-world responsibilities of running a pediatric practice. The recovery stories that don’t end happily don’t always get told. In this heartbreaking memoir, George McGovern recounts his daughter’s ultimately fatal struggle with alcoholism. Much of that problem involves the incarceration Black men and the failed “war on drugs.” In treating addiction, it’s just as important to understand what doesn’t work as it is to understand what does. The answer to the country’s drug problem is not the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders–-and racial bias in conviction and sentencing is nothing more than, well, a new era of Jim Crow. In many of them, especially the fiction titles, addiction plays a role but is not necessarily the focus of the book.

Best Non-Fiction Books About Alcohol Recovery

Told in the present tense (another rarity in autobiography), the result is a stunningly immersive and intimate story. We seem to experience Ditlevsen’s life with her, moment by vivid moment. Starting in the 1970s, Auster completed more than 30 books, translated into dozens of languages. He was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize and voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Maia Szalavitz

Except, when Carr begins to fact-check his addicted past, he learns that it was he who brandished the gun in a fit of rage. Journalist Jenny Valentish takes a gendered look at drugs and alcohol, using her own story to light the way. Mining the expertise of 35 leading researchers, clinicians and psychiatrists, she explores the early predictors of addictive behaviour, such as trauma, temperament and impulsivity. Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. “Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity.

The 15 most powerful memoirs about addiction and recovery

After getting sober, Hepola began examining these blacked-out hours, what they meant about her drinking and, more importantly, what they mean for her sobriety. I chose Atlas of the Heart because it touches on the important theme of second chances. This book provides language for sharing our most heartbreaking moments as a way to connect. Stories heal, and no circle knows that more than the recovery circle. The simple fact that we are not alone in our struggle can be enough to find our way out of the dark. Dr. Brown gives us tools to shape and share our thoughts in the most honest way possible, which can be a crucial step towards healing.

The Recovering by Leslie Jamison

This work has led to incredible insights about the nature of addiction, the failure of the “war on drugs,” and the compassion that’s needed for effective addiction treatment. This is one of the best memoirs on alcohol recovery in my opinion. She highlights not only her relationship to alcohol, but also key takeaways from her many attempts to get sober. Reading her book is like sharing a cup of coffee with your wise best friend.

• But the challenge is particularly acute when the story is about a life that, as the reader well knows, has simply gone on and on beyond the final page.
• I am not sure I’d be sober today if it weren’t for Tired of Thinking About Drinking.
• It might be a little on the nose for some readers but I’ve had luck getting teen reluctant readers interested in this story.
• “Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
• — early into her sobriety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one.
• You can have freedom from alcohol, and This Naked Mind wants to help you get there.

In Quit Like a Woman, author Holly Whitaker examines the drinking culture, specifically surrounding alcohol and women, and gives women a step-by-step guide to quitting—or at least, changing their relationship with alcohol. However, beyond the book that focuses on some key ideas, including changing our beliefs and practicing abstinence, among others, Whitaker aims to change the narrative surrounding alcohol consumption. First published in 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day is a staple for many people struggling with an alcohol use disorder. It features daily meditations, thoughts, and prayers to aid readers in maintaining sobriety. Pairing scientific research with real-life stories of addiction, the author and world-renowned trauma expert provides a holistic explanation of addiction.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction