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Books on beating addiction

Lynn8514

Lynn8514

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Messages
132
Location
US
Hello bluelighters :) does anyone have any recommendations for good self help and true stories about overcoming opioid addiction? There seem to be quite a lot of them so I was hoping you guys could narrow it down for me!
 
High Price, Carl Hart
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Mate
Chasing the Scream, Johann Hari
Creating the American Junkie, Caroline Jean Acker

There are lots of good stories of overcoming opioid addiction and addiction more generally within those books. Four of my all time favorites. Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow is and Angela Davis's Are Prisons Obsolete? are two other books that should definitely be added to that list, it's just that they don't address addiction, more specifically opioid addiction, as specifically as the above do.
 
Thank you!! Besides drugs, books are definitely my second addiction. I can't wait to check those out! :)
 
Hells yeahs, it's one of my favorites. Soooooo good, he does a great job of addressing the whole addiction issue relate to whether or not you have to use a drug to be considered an addict.

When you're doing working on it, you'll hook it up, right captain? :)
 
Two of my friends passed away last week. I don't know for sure it was from drugs, but I have a strong feeling it was. They were both 27 years old. Anyway, it's just hard coping with it. We need a better treatment plan for addicts because the current plan isn't working. It hurts my heart. Then I see people on social media saying addicts 'deserve to die' or 'deserve to suffer'. How cruel and uncaring can you be to say something like that about someone who just died??
 
Lynn8514 said:
Two of my friends passed away last week. I don't know for sure it was from drugs, but I have a strong feeling it was. They were both 27 years old. Anyway, it's just hard coping with it. We need a better treatment plan for addicts because the current plan isn't working. It hurts my heart. Then I see people on social media saying addicts 'deserve to die' or 'deserve to suffer'. How cruel and uncaring can you be to say something like that about someone who just died??
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You are absolutely right. If any industry had such a low success rate they would be revamping it constantly. This is one of those industries in which if you fail, they make more money. Quite a lot like prison. It is absurd how non-addicted people view addicts. Most addicts are undercover and work jobs and live a normal life apart from the using. It is the high visibility junkie that is breaking into peoples garages that gives everyone a bad name. I think the main thing is people feel like addicts are somehow less than, or subhuman...it is a dangerous thought.

As far as books go. The book Codependent No More-Melodie Beattie is a good read. This is more ancillary to addiction but I found it very helpful to work on my interpersonal skills by reading this and doing the worksheets in it.
 
I dont own it but was gonna buy it as i dont read much. Dreamseller by Brandon Novak. hes part of the whole Bam Margera CKY crew or whats left of it. the book is more of an addiction memoir.
 
Manboychef- I just wish the general population would do some damn research before they open their judgemental mouth. I could go around insulting people with type II diabetes because they ate too much sugar but how absurd would that be? (For the record, I hold no judgement toward people with type ii diabetes, or anyone else for that matter). I'll check out that book, too. It looks pretty good.

Oh and it truly is a shame that anyone should have to feel like less than a person because of a disease. Yes, addicts made the mistake of trying their doc, but who hasn't made a mistake? Funny how people think they have the right to determine who is worthy of humanity and who isn't. Honestly, addicts are some of the kindest people I've ever met. So in that regard, I can't regret my past that led me to meet some amazing people.

Thanks pillman! I'll check it out! :)
 
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manboychef said:
As far as books go. The book Codependent No More-Melodie Beattie is a good read. This is more ancillary to addiction but I found it very helpful to work on my interpersonal skills by reading this and doing the worksheets in it.
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I've also read this one, it's a good read. There's parts where my sympathy for her waxes and wanes, but I do understand that she makes a lot of excellent points, and by the end I felt a lot for her.

toothpastedog said:
When you're doing working on it, you'll hook it up, right captain? :)
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Oh yes, definitely.

I'm at about 486,000 words, and counting.

I don't have the same time every day to work on it, so it's a slower process, but I will finish it and get it out there one day, and you all will be the first ones to know. :D

Lynn8514 said:
That's actually the one I started first and its awesome. Let me know when your book comes out captain!!
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Will do :)
 
cj said:
I lady I know from a different forum wrote this book. I haven't read it but I bet its really good from what I have read of her blog.
The Big Fix Life After Heroin- tracey Helton

http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Fix-After-Heroin/dp/1580056032
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Holy fuck! The woman out of Dark Side of the Street! What forum is she on? It's actually made me happy to see that at least her story had a positive end, that documentary was so dark.
 
Thanks CJ! I downloaded a sample and it's pretty good! :)

Captain- 486,000 words?!! Wow! A decent sized book is around 100k-150k words equaling about 300 pages. You've got around 1000 pages or more! I'm very intrigued and would love to read it!
 
Lynn8514 said:
Thanks CJ! I downloaded a sample and it's pretty good! :)

Captain- 486,000 words?!! Wow! A decent sized book is around 100k-150k words equaling about 300 pages. You've got around 1000 pages or more! I'm very intrigued and would love to read it!
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Thanks! Yes, it's very long. I suspect I will have to split it up into multiple "books" when I'm done, though I'm not sure.
 
something else I really found helpful was "the science of letting go" I can't remember the author as I read it during one of my hellish detoxes.
 
Rio Fantastic said:
Holy fuck! The woman out of Dark Side of the Street! What forum is she on? It's actually made me happy to see that at least her story had a positive end, that documentary was so dark.
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Where can I find the documentary? Anyone know what it was called or what network?

I finished the sample of her book and I'm going to buy it. She's brutally honest and I really like that.
 
Lynn8514 said:
Where can I find the documentary? Anyone know what it was called or what network?

I finished the sample of her book and I'm going to buy it. She's brutally honest and I really like that.
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there you go. Its a really good documentary though its from the early to mid 90s. It does show people shooting up but hell I watched Intervention the other night and it showed the same thing.
 
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