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The self-help guide will help those who seek comfort by overindulging in alcohol. It also explains how to channel their inner self to productive ventures that will help them completely forget their drug or alcohol indulgence. The best alcoholic memoirs Sober Lush by Jardine Libaire and Amanda Eyre WardMust I retire all my old indulgences? We think as we’re getting sober, in spite of the fact that by the time we quit drinking, we’re not typically leading very glamorous lives.

Recovery-Themed Self-Help Books

Those who have friends or family they want to help can take inspiration and guidelines from this book. Animals by Emma Jane UnsworthSome of the closest friendships are forged in the crucible of hard partying. This lyrical, dark, biting novel is about one of those friendships, between Tyler and Laura, roommates and codependent hot messes. They wonder throughout whether they’re overdoing it … and order another round anyway. When the cycle of druggy nights and hardcore hangovers starts getting to Laura, their bond must be reevaluated.

Seeking Safety

As a best-selling book on addiction recovery, Big Book of Alcoholics helps those addicted to alcohol to actually understand what they need to do to come off it. The book is also applicable to those who are suffering from gambling addiction, sex addiction, marijuana, as well as heroin addiction. There have been thousands of testimonies by former addicts who completely stopped after reading and practicing the guidelines in the book. While self-help books are not a solution for long-term recovery, they can be very helpful for your “emotional recovery”. If you struggle with alcoholism or think you might have issues with alcohol, Annie Grace’s This Naked Mind is a practical listen to help you reconsider what drinking does for you and understand what recovery can mean.

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

This book may also help you see sobriety as a gift you’re giving to your body. Written by a cognitive neuroscientist with former substance use struggles, Marc Lewis emphasizes the habitual reward loop in the brain that can cause a substance use disorder to develop. This book also examines the brain’s ability to create new neural pathways and lose the desire to use substances.

The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

If I have any faith now, it’s in literature’s ability to help us redeem even life’s darkest realities by bringing them into the light. Clegg’s manic spiral is related in a relentless present tense, in a prose that’s sparse and detached—and lit up by little flares of lyricism to conjure each hit. Horrified and enthralled, we see the world through Clegg’s increasingly despairing gaze—and a part of us longs as much as he does for another fix to provide some relief from the horror. Although both are worth reading, it’s the first I find myself returning to, marvelling at its ability to conjure the insanity of addiction from inside its diabolical reality. Although previous literary history had portrayed a number of addicts, only a very small number could be found outside fiction—although some well known examples were only fictional in a nominal sense. The eponymous hero of novel John Barleycorn (1913) is really its author, Jack London.

• Always seek the advice of a physician or qualified health provider with questions regarding a medical condition.
• She highlights not only her relationship to alcohol, but also key takeaways from her many attempts to get sober.
• She provides actionable steps for anyone looking to drink less or none at all.
• Dr. Gabor Maté has spent decades treating drug addicts in Vancouver and his patients haunt this sprawling, outraged book—the human faces of a failure of medicine, policy, and law.

Lifechanging Books on Addiction & Recovery

• Most are forgettable and forgotten, but some accomplished authors—like Caroline Knapp and Sarah Hepola—have created very good books by bringing real skill to the standard formula.
• After finishing A Happier Hour, the bar was set high for future reads (no pun intended).

Bird by Bird embodies this by serving as a guide to aspiring writers. In a friendly and relatable voice, Anne Lamott uses personal anecdotes and literary tutorials to inspire others. Complex in nature, the obstacles that prevent someone from seeking help can be just as significant as the stressors that led them to self-medicate in the first place. For Heather Kopp, her barrier to recovery was the shame she felt when her faith did not stop her from using. In Sober Mercies, Kopp shares the challenges that she faced as a Christian woman grappling with her addiction. This book is all about embracing your authenticity and improving your self-confidence.

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. Meanwhile successful writing always surprises and challenges us, perhaps by defying the conventions of the form to which it belongs or simply by refreshing them in some way.

Helpful Resources for Loved Ones

This book explains the emotional, physiological, and psychological problems individuals may face. It also provides a solution on how to deal positively with these problems. As a self-help book, it provides s a simple and drug-free approach that is very easy to follow. The steps outlined in the book have helped many discontinue their habit. It will continue to help thousands of others who will follow exactly the steps in the book. It helps addicts prepare their mindset to completely forget their indulgence in alcohol for good.

This book is for everyone, but learning to ‘tame the inner dragon’ is especially helpful to people in recovery. 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.