best alcohol recovery books

He soon discovers his brother has arranged for him to head to rehab. Resistant to 12-step recovery, Frey finds rehab intensely challenging, yet he persists. Ann Dowsett Johnston combines in-depth research and her own story of recovery in this important book about the relationship between women and alcohol. Drink brings to light the increase withdrawals from cymbalta in DUIs, “drunkorexia” (limiting eating to get drunker), and other health problems among young women in the United States.

Incredible Recovery and Sobriety Memoirs I Want Everyone to Read

For more books about alcoholism and addiction, check out this list of 100 must-read books about addiction. When 15-year-old Cat moves to a new town in rural Michigan, she’s ecstatic to find a friend in Marlena, a beautiful, pill-popping neighbor. She’s drawn to Marlena’s world and joins her on an adventure of drinking, smoking, and kissing. Marlena’s dark habits worsen, though, and she ends up dead within the year. Decades later, Cat reminisces about those days with Marlena and learns to forgive herself and move on from those days.

Belle’s consistent messaging on our faulty thinking led to a major mindset shift for me. She provides actionable steps for anyone looking to drink less or none at all. A great starter book for anyone looking to begin changing their relationship with alcohol. This is a self-help book by a licensed therapist that braids together anonymized client stories, personal narrative, psychological tools, and brain research.

  1. Dash explains strategies and routines that helped him refocus and find recovery from his addictions.
  2. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
  3. Her story is a beautiful reminder of how safety and support can lead the way to incredible healing.
  4. Reading these books about alcoholism (memoirs, nonfiction, and fiction) and recommending them to you is part of my personal therapy.

Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family by Mitchell S. Jackson

Nevertheless, this list should keep you busy well into next year. We’ll revisit the topic, and report on any new books that can help you learn, grow, and thrive in recovery. Marketed as a memoir, the book took a public relations hit when a 2006 Smoking Gun exposé suggested elements of the story had been fabricated. He even went on Oprah and apologized for making some of the story up.

Personalized Care in Massachusetts Rehab

Don’t let the fact vs fiction debate over this book put you off. Frey continues to write fiction and remains in committed recovery. She thought the normal people who could drink casually were lucky. She wasn’t self-medicating and was able to truly feel her feelings and live honestly. We Are the Luckiest is a life-changing memoir about recovery—without any sugarcoating.

best alcohol recovery books

In his follow-up to his first memoir, Tweak, which dealt with his journey into meth addiction, Sheff details his struggle to stay clean. In and out of sober gift ideas 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. Former “20/20” anchor Elizabeth Vargas shares her story of anxiety and alcohol use disorder in this compelling memoir. Between Breaths reveals how she lived in denial and secrecy for years before finally entering rehab and a life of sobriety.

Work events, brunch, baby showers, book club, hair salons—the list of where to find booze is endless. Holly Whitaker, in her own path to recovery, discovered the insidious ways the alcohol industry targets women and the patriarchal methods of recovery. Ever the feminist, she found that women and other oppressed people don’t need the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous, but a deeper understanding of their own identities.

I too was a high-functioning professional with a drinking and cocaine addiction. My addiction always took me to new lows, and cost me many jobs over the years. Brand’s participated in all the major 12-step recovery programs, and has now started his own men’s group. In “Recovery,“ he shares for the first time some of the tools he used to stop smoking crack cocaine and to help others stay clean. If you’re finding it hard to work through these steps, semi-anonymous authors give you practical tips on harnessing these steps, improving your character, and forging forward with long-term recovery.

Overcoming Benzodiazepine Addiction

Prolific, brilliant memoirist Mary Karr shines a light on the dark years she spent descending into alcoholism and drug use as a young writer, wife, and mother. As her marriage dissolved and she struggled to find a reason to stay clean, Karr turned to Catholicism as a light at the end of the tunnel. At the age of 15, Cat Marnell began to unknowingly «murder drinking when bored her life» when she became hooked on the ADHD medication prescribed to her by her psychiatrist father. First published in 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day is a staple for many people struggling with an alcohol use disorder.

You’ll also find options for dessert drinks, frozen drinks, and holiday drinks without relying on sugar for flavor. Reading We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen can quite possibly save your life. For anyone hiding in the shadows of shame, this book is a guiding light. For every parent riddled with guilt, for anyone waking up in the shame cave (again), for every person who has had a messy struggle forward towards redemption… this book is for you.