11 Gripping Books About Alcoholism And Recovery

Trigger warnings: addiction and alcoholism, amid other mental illnesses. The first book on this list was the one to really set my mind toward easing off the alcohol. Did you know that getting blackout drunk on the regular is not normal? I didn’t. I’d always been drinking toward blackout, assuming that was the same goal everyone had on a night out. I thought the point of drinking was to lose hours of your life to darkness. Reading about someone else’s experiences shocked me, yet I told myself I’m not like them. I don’t need to drink every day. I just don’t want to feel. I know it’s bad—so that means I’m different, right? Wrong. In college, my friends and I joked that it’s not alcoholism until you graduate. Then I told myself it was because I was a journalist working the night shift. Then I insisted the daily drinking was just part of adulthood. Then I realized it doesn’t have to be that way. It can be a fun thing, not a necessary thing. That’s where I want to be. Reading these books about alcoholism and recommending them to you is part of my personal therapy process. Reminder: You are more than your addiction. You can get to the other side. And, while books are a great start, never hesitate to work with a professional therapist who can give you the tools you need to recover. Now, let’s get to the books.