20 Essential Books for Those With an Addicted Loved One

20) A Happier Hour by Rebecca WellerAt 39 years of age – and a health coach, no less – Weller knew better than to drink several bottles of wine each week. Her increasingly dysfunctional relationship with alcohol had to stop, but after decades of social drinking, she was terrified of what that might best alcoholic memoirs mean. She takes us through her journey of recovery in this moving, inspiring story about giving up something you think you love to live the life you truly want. Having been in recovery for many years, and working here at Shatterproof, I often get asked to recommend books about addiction.

Parched: A Memoir by Heather King

A person of extraordinary intellect, Heather King is a lawyer and writer/commentator for NPR — as well as a recovering alcoholic who spent years descending from functional alcoholism to barely functioning at all. From graduating cum laude from law school despite her excessive drinking to languishing in dive bars, King presents a clear-eyed look at her past and what brought her out of the haze of addiction. The acclaimed author of Prozac Nation goes from depression to addiction with this equally devastating personal account.

Essential Books for Those With an Addicted Loved One

A book that can help people suffering from substance use disorders and an emotional or psychiatric illness to better understand the 12 Step program and help the addiction recovery process. It brings you closer to the ways substance abuse and mental psychiatric disorders are intortwined, while offering a very realistic and empathetic solutions for recovery. “The Dual Disorders Recovery Book” is based on science, but so well-written that it can explain even more complicated states of mental health problems even to people who are not afflicted with dual diagnosis.

Start a new journey!

• “Strength, Support, Setbacks and Solutions” is a handbook that explains the pathways to addiction recovery.
• Peak Covid saw people giving into excess where alcohol was concerned, and the rise of sobriety following the pandemic seems straight out of a ‘nature is healing’ meme.
• The exercises are meant to help families move from dysfunctional behaviors to improved communication.
• Her first memoir is an inside look at her famous parents‘ marriage and her own tumultuous love affairs (including her on-again, off-again relationship with Paul Simon).

“Loving Our Addicted Daughters Back to Life” is a gender-specific guidebook for parents with daughters struggling with addiction. It covers topics such as how to recognize substance abuse in young women, communicate with addicted daughters, have a dialogue with their caregivers, and cope with the guilt or shame many parents of addicts feel. Whether you’re new to recovery or have decades of sobriety, reading a book is a great way to manage relapse triggers and substance use cravings.

Learn from Those Who’ve Been There

Painful, candid, and now the subject of a major movie, “Beautiful Boy” is the true story of the meth epidemic that continues to cripple the country. When faced with the challenge of recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction, many people look for motivation to find a healthier path and keep from relapsing. Books can help us create emotional connections to useful information, especially when the stories they hold involve relatable characters. Educating yourself about all aspects of addiction recovery is a smart move.

‘The Clinic and Elsewhere: Addiction, Adolescents, and the Afterlife of Therapy’ by Todd Meyers

• “Loving Our Addicted Daughters Back to Life” is a gender-specific guidebook for parents with daughters struggling with addiction.
• Still, his insatiable desire for alcohol and sex upends his entire life on one fateful night.
• She presents a model for recovery that focuses on the unique stresses and pressures that women face and how those factors can impact cycles of addiction.
• Easy to follow, these thoughtful and profound explorations into the voices of addiction recovery are an essential reading for anyone who wants to get their head around addiction issues.

We try to get back with all legitimate inquiries in a personal and prompt manner. Anne M. Fletcher offers new solutions for drinking problems and communicates suggestions and advice from those who have succeeded. She has gathered hundreds of stories from men and women who have resolved their drinking problems, and writes about the different recovery paths fit for virtually everyone.

Reading the right books will help, but consider getting help for your journey as the spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, or friend of an addicted person. Contact Olympus Recovery to learn your options and discover what resources are available for you. “Mothers, Addiction and Recovery” is focused on the journey of recovery. It includes personal stories, an overview of addiction research, and outlines of substance abuse treatment approaches.

Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story Remaking Life from Scratch

Three years sober, Jowita Bydlowska celebrates the birth of her first child with a glass of champagne, and just like that, she is spiraling back into the life of drinking she thought she had escaped. 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. Burroughs thought he was managing to keep it all together as a suit-wearing, hard-partying Manhattanite until he landed in rehab at the bequest of his employers.

It explores the risks of using drugs and explains the controversial issues in addressing addiction as a public health issue. “The Addiction Recovery Skills Workbook” is a workbook to help recovering addicts create a treatment plan, but families of addicted people may benefit from the resource as well. Meant to be used with therapy or rehab, it provides an overview of motivational techniques, behavior therapy options, and strategies for mindfulness. Addiction is a personal journey that has its own struggles, but addicts don’t go through their conditions alone. Whether facing alcoholism or addiction, the individual’s loved ones also suffer. Addiction and remission can be overwhelming for everyone involved.