Coping with / advice about drug and alcohol problems Books

Book SynopsisFrom the creator of the blog Renegade Mothering, Janelle Hanchett''s forthright, darkly funny, and ultimately empowering memoir chronicling her tumultuous journey from young motherhood to abysmal addiction and a recovery she never imagined possible.Pregnant at 22 by a man she''d known three months, Janelle Hanchett embraced motherhood with the determined optimism of the recklessly self-confident. After giving birth, she found herself bored, directionless, and seeking relief in wine, which she justified as sophisticated and going well with chicken.But over time, her questionable drinking habit spiraled into full-blown dependence, until life became bedtime stories and splitting hangovers, cubicles and multi-day drug binges--and eventually, an inconceivable separation from her children. For ten years, Hanchett grappled with the unyielding progression of addiction, bouncing from rehab to therapy to the occasional hippie cleansing ritual on her quest

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Book SynopsisFor over three years Jacqueline Doherty has been watching her rock star son''s messy descent into drug addiction. Every step of the way has been charted by a hungry media. And every step of the way has been agony for a loving mum. Pete Doherty''s celebrity means that his addiction has become public property. But Jacqueline is a private person and her painful account is that of any mum - or any parent - trying to help a child in trouble. This is the compelling story of Pete''s childhood, his burgeoning talent, his success as a musician and his drug addiction, set against the backdrop of his loving relationship with his mother and his family. It is a moving memoir of how a happy, middle-class family is coping with a family member opting to love drugs more than he loves them, or himself. It is a memoir that will offer hope to other mothers and families in a similar situation.Trade Review'A great book.' * Sun *A great book. * Sun *'The book, tenderly and honestly written, provides an astonishing insight into the devastating impact of her son's addiction... It will hold deep resonance for thousands of parents who have seen their children seduced by the twisted glamour of drugs.' * Daily Mail *'The book, tenderly and honestly written, provides an astonishing insight into the devastating impact of her son's addiction... It will hold deep resonance for thousands of parents who have seen their children seduced by the twisted glamour of drugs.' * Daily Mail *'An extraordinary book... A frank and moving portrait.' * Mail on Sunday *'An extraordinary book... A frank and moving portrait.' * Mail on Sunday *'A heartbreaking tale.' * Heat *'A heartbreaking tale.' * Heat *'[A] heart-rending, loving and sometimes amusing book.' * Scotland on Sunday magazine *'[A] heart-rending, loving and sometimes amusing book.' * Scotland on Sunday Magazine *

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Book SynopsisNicola Barry grew up inwell-to-do Murrayfield, Edinburgh. Her father was a hopsital consultant, her mother was medically trained, her brothers boarders at public school. But behind the closed doors of their imposing family home, her mother was drinking herself to death. A beautiful, quirky woman, this is the story of how Monica Barry became a prisoner to alcohol and a prisoner in her own home, her addiction slowlysucking the life out of her. And how - with her father at work, and her brothers away atschool -Nicolaspent a lot of her childhood as her mother''s unofficial carer: hauling her from the bath when she was too drunk to function and running errands to buy her booze. Full of harrowing incidents, and warmed by a touching, bleak humour, this is the powerful story of how a mother drank herself to death and howalcohol destroyed a family. And of how Nicola battled with her own alcoholism but, determined to throw off her mother''s legacy, came through - a survivor.

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Book SynopsisWhat you've got to understand is that here in Southall, everyone's up to something.In 2006, Lilian Pizzichini swaps life on dry land for a narrowboat on the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The Adam Bonny, moored between Newlocks and Shackleton Estates, is to be the place she can learn more about her extensive working-class London family and the place where she will become pulled into a strange underbelly of drugs, vagrant neighbours and criminals.Lilian always found it easier to observe than join in. Abandoned by everyone around her, by the time she was fourteen she had developed a taste for Pernod and black. Speed allowed her to talk to boys, but she spent most of her time with her great-aunt Dolly, who had no regard for convention, sang songs and urinated on the street. Born into the slums of Lisson Grove, Dolly spoke like Eliza Doolittle when no-one was listening. With her, Lilian felt the bonds of mischief, gambling, madness and song.As the sad lives of her Trade ReviewWildly original and imaginative and disturbing, it remains in one's consciousness like a very vivid dream. The evocation of place is brilliant and also of sensation * Francis Wyndham *Praise for Dead Men's Wages: This memoir is as good as a novel * The Times *In telling the story of her criminal grandfather ... Pizzichini paints a dark-hued portrait of London, the scabbed, peeling city that shaped his anti-social tendencies * Daily Telegraph *Praise for The Blue Hour: A wonderful book: exciting and dramatic as narrative, perceptive and original as literary criticism * Francis Wyndham *This engrossing account of Jean Rhys's painful life is as near as we are likely to get to how Jean saw it herself * Diana Melly *

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Book SynopsisOften it is difficult for parents to recognize when their child is abusing alcohol, using illegal drugs, or in trouble with other substances that are hazardous to their health, safety, and wellbeing. Clearing the Haze is a guide designed to help parents determine whether their child may have a substance problem and, if so, how to begin to address it. The book includes the voices and insight of experts in substance abuse counseling, young people in recovery, and parents who have lived the nightmare of adolescent addiction. The book moves readers through an overview of adolescent brain development, the warning signs of drug use and addiction, treatment options, what families should expect of therapy, the basics of productive communication, and the difficulties of dealing lovingly with addicted teens. The authors encourage families entering the 12th step of giving back to consider advocacy for smarter public policies surrounding drug access and addiction treatment. They also provide a lisTrade ReviewThe mixed messages parents and kids are getting today about addiction is a serious threat to public health. Clearing the Haze is a book whose time has come. Every parent, youth – and policy maker – should memorize it. -- Kevin A. Sabet, PhD, President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (www.learnaboutsam.org)Table of ContentsForeword: Patrick Kennedy 1: Why adolescent substance use is a big deal 2: How to know if there is a problem and what to do about it/Communication monitoring 3: How to react when you learn your child is using drugs 4: When to seek treatment and what to look for in it 5: Specific family objectives during treatment 6: Addiction is a chronic condition that requires chronic maintenance 7: How to help your kids get clean and stay clean: the theory 8: Practical ways to help your kids get clean and stay clean 9: Taking care of you 10: Advocating for adolescent substance prevention 11: Additional resources 12: Summary About the authors Bibliography

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Book SynopsisLearn how to manage your alcohol use simply and effectivelyFor many, drinking can be a pleasurable, acceptable and harmless social activity. However, if you regularly drink more than is sensible you may find that it impacts on your health, emotional wellbeing, relationships and your ability to work. There are many reasons why we drink and this self-help guide uses clinically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help you to work out your own reasons and to start taking control of your alcohol use: Understand what is sensible alcohol useBuild the motivation to change your habitsTackle thoughts about drinkingManage setbacks

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Book SynopsisAn essential companion piece to Rewired and a guide to anyone wanting to work through their addiction and rewire their mind, The Rewired Workbook is the brand new solution for beating addiction for good.

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Book SynopsisBorn an alcoholic and drunk at 5, I battled the symptoms of my disease my whole life. I was viciously attacked by a predator at 10, then went on to win my battle over booze, drugs and an obsession for women, to become one of radio's most successful stories. Tops in morning radio in Houston and Miami, I ultimately joined an old friend and bought a radio station in Santa Fe, NM, taking the station from "Worst to First" and leaving with over a million in my pocket. Sober and clean.I wrote this book to give hope to those "functioning" alcoholics who may see a better way to find success in life, business and with their families. It is a HOW TO book in the sense that throughout the writing, I lead the way with what you have to do next. The key in this book is about the reader's ability to "reach deep" into his/her psyche to pull up the honesty it takes to win the battle over alcohol. More than anything, honesty is the key. Ultimately, that's what happened to me.

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Book SynopsisAn odyssey of family, heartbreak, violence, punk rock, brokenness, broke-ness, sex, love, loss, drinking, drinking, drinking, and an unlikely savior: distance running.A misfit kid at the best of times, Mishka Shubaly had his world shattered when, in a twenty-four-hour span in 1992, he survived a mass shooting on his school's campus, then learned that his parents were getting divorced. His father, a prominent rocket scientist, abandoned the family and their home was lost to foreclosure. Shubaly swore to avenge the wrongs against his mother, but instead plunged into a magnificently toxic love affair with alcohol.Almost two decades later, Shubaly's life changed again when a fateful five-mile run after a bar fight inspired him to clean up his life. And when he finally reconnected with his estranged father, he discovered the story of his childhood was radically different from what he thought he knew. In this fiercely honest, emotional, and self-laceratingly witty book, Shubaly relives his mistakes, misfortunes, and infrequent good decisions: the disastrous events that fractured his life his incendiary romances his hot-and-cold career as a rock musician meeting his newborn nephew while out of his gourd on cough syrup. I Swear I'll Make It Up to You is an apology for choices Shubaly never thought he'd live long enough to regret, a journey so far down the low road that it took him years of running to claw his way back.Trade Review"In this memoir of darkness and redemption, singer/songwriter [Mishka] Shubaly describes his virulent romance with alcohol and his struggle to escape the toxic embrace by way of long-distance running." --Publishers Weekly "I Swear I'll Make It Up To You is a mercilessly honest trip to the very center of alcoholic despondency, followed by a perfectly messy, self-deprecating squirm toward the light. An elegant and eminently human account of what it means to struggle, despair, dream and ultimately find meaning in an uncomfortable world. This is the memoir I wish I could write. Wish I had written. And for that I will always resent this author I call a friend." --Rich Roll, bestselling author of Finding Ultra "If Mishka Shubaly can trade in his pills and booze for a pair of Nikes, there's hope for every addict and drunk out there. This book is rehab for the soul." --Cat Marnell "We all have heroes. I would never want to imagine Tom Waits going to therapy or Bukowski running a 10k. In my heart, Mishka Shubaly will always be spilled over the bar next to me and playing on the jukebox of my soul." --Doug Stanhope

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