Sunday, March 24, 2024

Best Self Help Books For Drug Addiction

How To Break Your Addiction To A Person By Howard Halpern

Best self-help books for mental health (7 therapist recommendations)

Do you get too attached to every person you have dated? Do you find it hard to break up with someone even though the relationship is making you miserable?

If so, you may be addicted.

This book provides a step-by-step guide to help you break free of your addiction and overcome the painful breakup period. When you are addicted to someone, you may not be aware that your mind is constantly trying to deceive you to stay in the relationship. This book will help you recognize these addictive patterns.

If you want to get out of their codependent relationship and not get caught in an agonizing relationship again, then this book is suitable for you.

Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery: Avoiding Relapse Through Self

Its sometimes said that quitting drugs or alcohol is easy, but staying quit is hard. This excellent book by addiction expert Allen Berger, Ph.D., delves into the world of relapse and the most common thoughts, attitudes and beliefs that can quickly lead you there. These include:

  • Believing that life should be easy.
  • Confusing self-care with selfishness.
  • Not getting help working through relationship problems.
  • Not being completely honest.
  • Believing sobriety will fix everything thats wrong in your life.

This easy-to-read book is frank and sprinkled with humor. Its a great read for those in treatment or early recovery, offering practical tips and strategies for changing the way you think about addiction and sobriety.

The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star

In his 2008 memoir, The Heroin Diaries, rock star Nikki Sixx shares writings from a year when he was addicted to heroin and other drugs. The book includes diary entries that give readers an authentic look into Sixxs life as a . It also features present-day reflections from Sixx as a sober father.

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The Science Of Addiction: From Neurobiology To Treatment

Over the past 10 years, neurobiologic and genetic research has provided an increased understanding of what causes drug addiction in the brains reward pathway. Knowing this leads to a better understanding of how it may be treated and even reversed in those who successfully overcome the disease. This is especially true with addictions possible precursors of mild to moderate substance use disorders.

These latter disorders can usually be treated more easily by less intensive models of treatment that do not require actual brain chemistry re-regulation over time. In this new edition, there are updated scientific references to support addiction as a medical brain disease, using the prevailing neurobiology, genetics, and psychological scientific literature.

Here, readers will find a fully-updated glossary of terms, additional abbreviations, and updated appendices. These will aid in clarifying the somewhat lengthy and science-based upgrades in our knowledge of neuroscience and genetics research that are so critical in understanding why addiction is such a serious and tough-to-treat disease. Erickson keeps the science understandable yet comprehensiveappropriate for health professionals as well as lay readers who need and want this critical information.

Choosing Therapy partners with leading mental health companies and is compensated for referrals by Monument.

Alcohol: Top Ten Cravings Busters By Catherine Mason Thomas

Finding Your Best Self, Revised Edition : Recovery from Addiction ...

While you can find numerous books about addiction recovery, few specifically address the most potent relapse trigger: cravings. This short, easy read is full of practical tips and strategies for coping with cravings.

While the focus of this inspiring book is on recovery from alcohol addiction, it can apply to cravings of any kind. From the self-talk strategy to the experience-the-craving strategy, youll learn new, effective ways to combat that inner voice that says you cant survive another minute without drugs or alcohol.

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Big Magic : Creative Living Beyond Fear

Courtesy of Walmart

  • Great for creative people

  • Accessible and conversational writing style makes it easy to read

  • Gilberts tough love approach doesn’t always translate

  • Reads more as a memoir than a self-help book in parts

For one reason or another, some were turned off by Elizabeth Gilberts best-selling “Eat Pray Love”. But dont let that turn you away from reading her other material, in particular, “Big Magic”. If youre an artist or creator of any type and have struggled with a blockage that prevents you from pursuing your calling to its fullest, youll want to give this a read.

From creating new habits to overcoming fear and surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, Gilbert hits the nail on the head as she dissects the obstacles a creative person may face in pursuing their dreams. Her honest, conversational, no-BS tone will light a fire in your soul and help you be upfront with yourself about what you want from life. A highlight of this book is the usage of real-life examples from regular men and women across the country who have endured in their creative feats.

Prozac Nation By Elizabeth Wurtzel

Wurtzels book clearly illustrates the link between mental health issues and addiction. As a young woman, Wurtzel struggled with severe depression marked by manic highs and extreme lows. She turned to alcohol and drugs in an attempt to self-medicate and treat her emotional pain. She also poignantly expresses the feeling of emptiness and longing that so many addicts seek to fill through the consumption of their drug of choice. Prozac Nation is an important piece of work, notable for its distinctive youthful voice and confessional nature. It also chronicles the true pain that stems from depression and anxiety, the causes that lead many people to engage in substance abuse.

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What The Experts Say

Self-help books have helped many men and women initiate the often-daunting task of processing their thoughts and assessing their insecurities and weaknesses. Self-help books allow individuals to try different techniques and find what works the best for them to assuage anxiety and confront tumultuous times with grace. Dr. Leela R. Magavi, MD, psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry.

When looking at self-help books, it is important to look for books that provide clear and attainable goals in the context of the issue you are addressing. If a book makes recommendations that you do not feel are achievable in the context of your life, the book will likely not be very helpful to you and end up collecting dust rather than being an effective self-improvement tool. Summer R. Thompson, DNP, PMHNP-BC, mental health nurse practitioner at Community Psychiatry

Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions By Russell Brand

The Drug Users Bible: A Guide to Safe Drug Use

Movie star and comedian Russell Brand uses a mix of humor, compassion, and honesty to share his advice on addiction and recovery. After struggling with addictions to drugs and alcohol, Brand has been sober since 2003. He writes of how the process of staying sober is a daily activity. He shares his recovery plan and explains the importance of the 12-Step program and how it has helped him in his recovery journey.

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Healing The Addicted Brain By Harold Urschel

This book is about treating alcoholism and drug addiction as a biological disease. A brain disease can be treated with medications just like other chronic illnesses.

Combining behavioral interventions with brain function research, the strategies and treatment suggested in the program are designed to overcome the biological factors that cause addictive behavior.

Furthermore, this book helps you understand how you became addicted and why you behave the way you did.

If you are interested in science-based interventions and open to using medications to help your addiction, this is the book for you.

| eBook | Audio

The Best Books Shedding Light On The Opioid Epidemic

Dreamland: The True Tale of Americas Opiate Epidemicby Sam Quinones

Children of the most privileged group in the wealthiest country in the history of the world were getting hooked and dying in almost epidemic numbers from substances meant to, of all things, numb pain. What pain? a South Carolina cop asked rhetorically one afternoon as we toured the fine neighborhoods south of Charlotte where he arrested kids for pills and heroin. Crime was at historic lows, drug overdose deaths at record highs. A happy façade covered a disturbing reality. I grew consumed by this story.

Sam Quinones investigates the perfect storm leading up to the opioid epidemic: Purdue Pharmas release of Oxycontin, just as America is being flooded with cheap black-tar heroin. This is a uniquely American story of capitalism gone wrong. If you dont have time to read the whole book, you can get a glimpse by reading the authors Serving All Your Heroin Needs at the New York Times.

What do all these books have in common? They call into question the beliefs weve been raised with, and stereotypes of addiction. Each of these authors demands that we face addiction as an intimate, human story as well as a broad public health and safety issue. They offer no simple truths, and no easy answers.

American Fix: Inside the Opioid Addiction Crisis and How to End It

American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts by Chris McGreal

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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Codependent No More: How To Stop Controlling Others And Start Caring For Yourself

A quote you will see throughout our Family First Intervention website is, An intervention is not about how to control the substance user it is about how to let go of believing you can. For starters, nobody is reinventing the wheel on discussing or explaining boundaries. Most of the books are trying to make a similar point, and that is why it is helpful to read multiple books on boundaries so you can read them from various perspectives. What is profound about Codependent No More by Melody Beattie is her ability to articulate the importance of boundaries while keeping the reader engaged. Her book has personal stories, reflections, quotes, self-tests, and exercises.

One of the many challenges we face as professionals are the familys inability to let go and the overwhelming need to control the situation. Many families do not see where or how they are controlling the situation. This control comes from maladaptive coping strategies intended to comfort themselves and not the substance user. The substance user benefits from the selfish acts of the familys enabling and codependency. The familys true intentions of enabling are for themselves and not the substance user. It is very simple to see what enabling, and codependency is doing for a substance user. It is far more difficult to see why the enabler is comforting the addict and what benefit it is providing the enabler.

What To Look For In A Self

Substance Abuse &  Addictions Self

Selecting a self-help book is, for the most part, a highly personal decision . Given that this genre is not one-size-fits-alland that people respond to a wide range of styles, topics, and tonesfinding the right self-help books for yourself can be a process of trial and error. But, to help guide you through that process, here are a few general things to look for when purchasing a self-help book:

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Confessions Of An English Opium Eater By Thomas De Quincey

In his exceptional biography, Thomas describes the series of events, including the bad dreams, paranoia and despair he had in London. Thomas shared his encounters and explained the opium addiction and how he overcame it. This book weaved the relation between drugs and the nature of imagination and dreams.

A Million Little Pieces By James Frey

Frey recounts his journey through rehab, as both an alcoholic and a crack cocaine addict. Although this book was first released as a memoir, Frey later admitted that many of the instances described within A Million Little Pieces never happened. Regardless, his representation of the lack of control that addicts experience on their journey to rock-bottom struck a chord with millions of readers. He details his rehab experience in a 12-step oriented facility, and offers an honest viewpoint of both the pros and cons surrounding this therapeutic model. Despite the controversy surrounding Freys semi-fictional memoir, this book remains one of the most notable books on addiction and recovery in recent times.

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Dreamland: The True Tale Of Americas Opiate Epidemic

In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, opioid addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across Americaaddiction like no other the country has ever faced. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland.

With a great reporters narrative skill and the storytelling ability of a novelist, acclaimed journalist Sam Quinones weaves together two classic tales of capitalism run amok whose unintentional collision has been catastrophic. The unfettered prescribing of pain medications during the 1990s reached its peak in Purdue Pharmas campaign to market OxyContin, its new, expensiveextremely addictivemiracle painkiller. Introducing a memorable cast of characterspharma pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, and parentsQuinones shows how these tales fit together. Dreamland is a revelatory account of the corrosive threat facing America and its heartland.

My Dad Loves Me My Dad Has A Disease

10 POWERFUL Stories of Addiction (& Recovery) | Rich Roll Podcast

Dr. Claudia Black does a fantastic job of reaching children with her book. Written for children between the ages of 5-12, Dr. Black reaches children with exercises that allow them to express their feelings. Children are greatly affected, and Dr. Black understands the impact of them holding their true feelings inside and not talking about their feelings. If you know a child that could benefit from this book, we highly recommend that you have them go through it.

Resentments mean to re-feel something. As you re-feel the event, you become angrier with every passing thought. When a child cannot discuss what is going on at home, it has a profuse effect on their brain development and ability to form healthy relationships and bonds. The resentments that develop for young children can lead them to substance use themselves and unhealthy choices in relationships. The sooner you can get in front of a child affected by substance use, the less damage may be done.

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The Varieties Of Religious Experience By William James

Not only is William James the father of modern psychology, his recovery philosophy is the cornerstone of the program outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Even the founders of AA recognized the importance of approaching alcoholism from a psychological vantage point. This book offers a view of recovery from its foundational roots. Further, James work has expounded exponentially.

Counselors and addiction specialists have developed new, evidence-based practices based on his beginning research. For more information about counseling specific to historical addiction recovery, call today.

Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path To Recovering From Addiction

Bestselling author and renowned Buddhist teacher Noah Levine adapts the Buddhas Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Path into a proven and systematic approach to recovery from alcohol and drug addictionan indispensable alternative to the 12-step program.

While many desperately need the help of the 12-step recovery program, the traditional AA models focus on an external higher power can alienate people who dont connect with its religious tenets. Refuge Recovery is a systematic method based on Buddhist principles, which integrates scientific, non-theistic, and psychological insight.

Viewing addiction as cravings in the mind and body, Levine shows how a path of meditative awareness can alleviate those desires and ease suffering. Refuge Recovery includes daily meditation practices, written investigations that explore the causes and conditions of our addictions, and advice and inspiration for finding or creating a community to help you heal and awaken.

Practical yet compassionate, Levines successful Refuge Recovery system is designed for anyone interested in a non-theistic approach to recovery and requires no previous experience or knowledge of Buddhism or meditation.

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What Are You Hungry For: The Chopra Solution To Permanent Weight Loss Well

Amazon

  • Helps readers understand their reasons for certain types of eating

  • More than simply a guide to healthy eating

  • Even though its not a traditional weight loss book, that component being included at all might turn some people off

  • Can feel like any other book on weight loss and our relationship with food

Deepak Chopra is the self-help guru of our time, and any one of his books could be recommended for various reasons. “What Are You Hungry For?” will help you see your relationship with food in an entirely new light.

While this self-help book could be considered a guide to help with weight loss, its really so much more. Chopra does talk about losing weight and also gives a pretty regimented recommendation on what to eat. But he also digs deeper into the reasoning behind our desire to seek this transformation, and fulfillment is at the center of this argument.

Since change isnt easy for most, the book offers a lot of intention-setting tips to help readers determine the motives behind their goals. Attaching an emotion to the things you want in life, health-related or otherwise, makes it easier to stay the course when the going gets tough.

Seven Motivational Books For Addiction Recovery

Substance Abuse &  Addictions Self

Recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction is a lifelong process that requires making healthy choices every day. Achieving lasting sobriety takes vigilance, commitment, and motivation. In times of discouragement, it can feel especially helpful to hear the stories of others who are in recovery. To that end, we offer below a selection of books written about addiction and recovery that can be sources of inspiration.

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