Although his childhood experience was remarkably different from the norm, it still illustrates the vulnerability that emotional abuse creates in relation to the formation of addiction. The journey through addiction to recovery is a deeply personal experience, with no two people going though the same process to reach sobriety. Recovery is a tumultuous process, and recovering individuals often benefit from learning about the experiences others have undergone Sober living home in their quest to live substance-free.

Mental: Lithium, Love, and Losing My Mind by Jamie Lowe

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. From moving memoirs to self-help guides, these are some of the best listens on addiction and recovery we’ve found. This powerful book narrates his ups and downs, setbacks, and unimaginable challenges in recovery. Ultimately, Augusten tells the story of how his most difficult experiences led him to getting clean and helping others.

Tormented Hope

“It began in Los Angeles in 1993, when Jaime Lowe was just sixteen. She stopped sleeping and eating, and began to hallucinate—demonically cackling Muppets, faces lurking in windows, Michael Jackson delivering messages from the Neverland Underground. Lowe wrote manifestos and math equations in her diary, and drew infographics on her bedroom wall. Eventu­ally, hospitalized and diagnosed as bipolar, she was prescribed a medication that came in the form of three pink pills—lithium.

Urge Surfing and Anticipating Cravings in Addiction Recovery

Self Recovery is a private, science-based, online addiction recovery program. Here, Nikki shares the diary entries—some poetic, some scatterbrained, some bizarre—of those dark times. Joining him are Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Bob Rock, and a host of ex-managers, ex-lovers, and more. Admitting you have a problem — not to mention actually getting sober — is no small feat. There’s no award for “Most Sobriety Memoirs Read,” so read them for yourself — let their wisdom be its own award (I can feel your eye rolls. I’m sorry.).

When women are in a blackout, things are done to them,” one expert tells her. The late New York Times media critic David Carr wrote another notable “addiction memoir that’s not a normal addiction memoir” with 2008’s Night of the Gun, in which he investigated his own descent into cocaine addiction. In it, he confronts the fuzzy parameters of truth as it pertains to memoir by acknowledging his supreme unreliability as a narrator and reporting his own story out by interviewing over 60 people who dealt with him during his darkest days.

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

Living Sober is a recommended read for https://beta.ritsi.es/got-brain-fog-here-s-how-alcohol-affects-your/ anyone using the 12 step method. Growing up on her family’s 25-acre farm in Maine, Erin French developed a lifelong passion for cooking and food. She worked as a line cook in her family’s diner and eventually became a professional chef herself, opening the world-renowned restaurant The Lost Kitchen. Along the way, single motherhood, a broken marriage, and an addiction to prescription pills presented obstacles that French wasn’t sure she could overcome. But she prevailed, thanks to the lessons first learned on the farm and the love and support of her community. Finding Freedom, French’s remarkable new memoir, chronicles her inspiring journey.

• Teetering on the brink, Peres realizes he must let go of his frenetic lifestyle to reclaim his life and kick his (at its peak) 60-pill-a-day habit.
• It’s a tough book to read due to the descriptions of horrific traumas people have experienced, however it’s inspirational in its message of hope.
• Published by Alcoholics Anonymous, this work does not offer advice on how to get sober; instead, it offers information on how to maintain sobriety on a day-to-day basis.
• The author narrates her work in a way that’s encouraging without being over enthusiastic or pushy.

Best Science Fiction Books of 2025

Fast forward a bit and she’s sneaking drinks at the grocery store, waking up in a hotel with no panties on after a blackout. After the book published, Bydlowska was celebrated for her bravery. In 2022, nine years after the release of the book (and six years after another relapse), she wrote, “Readers still write to tell me that this book helped them—to stop drinking, to stay sober another day, to feel less alone… I love every message. But the truth is, whatever the book does for people was never intentional.” Her initial motivation was only to write it.

About the Author

From Nic’s early experimentation with drugs to his full-blown addiction to methamphetamine, Sheff paints a vivid and harrowing portrait of the impact addiction can have on families. With raw honesty and emotional depth, he shares the agonizing moments of despair, hope, and relentless determination as he grapples with his son’s addiction. Try these compelling narrative nonfiction books on addiction and recovery for your book stack.

Nedra Glover Tawwab combines wisdom, research, and practical tools to help you change your life best books on alcoholism by building sustainable boundaries that actually work for you. This book provides an eye-opening perspective on and insight into how racism and white supremacy can lead to intergenerational trauma. Resmaa Menakem shares the latest research on body trauma and neuroscience, as well as provides actionable steps towards healing as a collective. These insights can introduce a whole new dimension of healing while on a sobriety or moderation journey. “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.