Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic. It’s not just your drinking buddies and drug dealers who can get you into trouble—sometimes those who are closest to you can contribute to a relapse. But seriously, I hope at least one of these memoirs speaks to you. Beyond the camaraderie of knowing you’re not alone, these books offer practical guidance about the road to sobriety (or your road to changing your relationship with drugs and alcohol). They encourage you to embrace the sober “Irish exit,” leaving the party early to enjoy a starlit stroll home.
Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker
Part memoir and part how-to, many former drinkers credit Alcohol Lied to Me with helping them to finally beat the bottle. Bryony puts her family, career and future at risk before a stint in rehab, loads of AA meetings and self-discovery help her to become a mother, partner and person she can be proud of. Michael Pond has treated people with addiction for years as a psychotherapist but finds himself homeless, broke and alone when he succumbs to his own battle with alcohol use disorder. Raw and real, Pond’s bok shows how he uncovers a new path to recovery outside the traditional abstinence-based programs with the help of his partner, Maureen Palmer. The result is a new, science-based approach to treating and managing addiction. Maybe you’ve been leaning on alcohol too much to try to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m Black and I’m Sober: A Minister’s Daughter Tells Her Story about Fighting the Disease of Alcoholism–And Winning”
I’ve been sober for nine years, and in that time I’ve read a lot of books about addiction. 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. The hope is that you will be ready to resume daily life after treatment, manage stressors and triggers, and stay sober for the long term.
How to Go Alcohol Free: 101 Tips for a Sober Life by Kate Bee
It includes recipes for zero-proof cocktails for all seasons and has tips for navigating the dating scene while completely sober. If you’re feeling down about “missing out” on life if you cut back on alcohol or got sober, read https://ecosoberhouse.com/ this book. Ward and Libaire show you how to get intoxicated, but with life instead of alcohol. Finally, at the behest of his coworkers and boss, he ends up in a rehab that specifically caters to gay and lesbian patients.
Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed With Alcohol by Holly Whitaker
Bydlowska depicts life as a new mom while under the influence with honesty and humility, discovering she can overcome the seemingly impossible for her child. Clare Pooley left her position at one of the world’s largest advertising agencies to focus on raising her three children. What was meant to be a positive and happy change led to depression, which she self-medicated with drinking, best alcoholic memoirs eventually consuming over a bottle of wine a day. If this book resonates with you, be sure to check out Grace’s podcast of the same name, This Naked Mind, where she and guests continue to dissect alcohol’s grasp on our lives and culture. Quit Like a Woman is a sobriety book that delves into the toxic culture of alcohol in society—and specifically, its impact on women.
Shortly after accepting she had a problem with alcohol, she thought a lot about how some people are lucky enough to be able to drink normally without it controlling their life. It’s understandable to feel alone and like no one can relate to your addiction. Luckily, there’s a whole genre of books that prove you are not the only one who has battled addiction.
- Just as no one treatment plan fits all people, no one treatment plan may be suitable for the entire time you are in a formal treatment program.
- In this post, we’ve put together nine of the best addiction memoirs and quit lit books for you to check out.
- Part memoir and part how-to, many former drinkers credit Alcohol Lied to Me with helping them to finally beat the bottle.
- This hilarious and moving memoir recounts Johnson’s rise to fame in the television show 3rd Rock From the Sun, her addiction, medical challenges, and recovery.
Take our short alcohol quiz to learn where you fall on the drinking spectrum and if you might benefit from quitting or cutting back on alcohol. Blackout by Sarah Hepola is a brutally honest quit lit memoir of living through blackout after blackout—something that many who’ve struggled with heavy alcohol use can relate to. “Set in northwest London, Zadie Smith’s brilliant tragicomic novel follows four locals—Leah, Natalie, Felix, and Nathan—as they try to make adult lives outside of the council estate of their childhood. 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.
Step 5: Choose the Appropriate Therapy
The strength of addiction’s grasp is illustrated through the lives of four main characters, each struggling with it in their own way. The meth epidemic was at its peak in the early aughts, and few places were more affected that rural communities. Journalist Reding tells the story of Oelwein, Iowa (pop. 6,159), which is struggling with economic decline and an influx of the highly addictive drug. A compassionate portrayal of all those afflicted by a situation increasingly out of their control.
Practice Healthy Living
Annie’s book is so important (and she’s a wonderful human to boot). She brilliantly weaves psychological, neurological, cultural, social and industry factors with her own journey. Without scare tactics, pain, or rules, she offers a strategy to give you freedom from alcohol.
Wilhelmson’s story proves that alcoholism can take many forms. First and foremost, find a treatment program that has a positive track record in terms of patients completing treatment and maintaining sobriety. This is most likely to occur in programs that provide services and therapies based on research.
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