This is a true story of drug addition. If you are unaware of what can happen to a young person whose life was destroyed by becoming a drug addict, I hope you will read Susan’s life story. This book has great input from the addict, my daughter, on when she started, on how she started, and why she started using drugs. Her letters are insightful as are her confessions, never before told. If I can help even one child avoid the life my daughter has led, it will be worth the agony I have spent in reliving Susan’s life which has been destroyed by the use of drugs.
When Gene Lawrence was fifteen and trying to fight a crack addiction, everyone told him that the longer he stayed clean, the easier it would be to say away from crack. They were liars because eight years later at twenty-three years old, Gene finds himself struggling with the frustrating symptoms of a crack craving. It wouldn't be so bad if he could hole up in his apartment and not see anyone, but with the holiday season coming up and his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca, back in town for her wedding, Gene has no choice but to consider what led to his drug addiction and the reasons he's had such a hard time staying off crack since then. Especially for Allison, who he finds himself more attracted to by the day and who is trying to seduce him every time they're alone in the same room. But he'd rather not get involved with Allison at all than fail her in the end. Like he failed Rebecca. Like he failed his mother. Like he failed himself. His relationships with people were always ruined when he let them get entangled with his crack addiction. Because although Gene chose not to go back to crack, it didn't mean he wasn't an addict anymore. Once an addict, always an addict. Part of the Confessions Universe, a series of interconnected stand-alone YA and NA novels featuring protagonists that struggle to overcome the burdens and drawbacks of a specific issue (drugs, eating disorders, trauma, etc.) and how that issue affects their personal, mental, psychological, and romantic lives. Real. Honest. Uncensored.
In Hooked, reformed addict Clare Gee draws on her own experiences of cocaine addiction, alcoholism and prostitution in telling the sensational story of a woman living on the edge. Emotionally scarred by having never known her mother, Katie escapes to London and immerses herself in a seedy world of drugs, drink and sex, chasing happiness in the pubs and clubs, and snorting cocaine in private members' bars with her rich punters. Finding herself in a cycle of prostitution and unable to break free, she turns to drug smuggling and becomes embroiled in a bigamous marriage in an attempt to secure some emotional stability. From this dark emotional pit, Katie starts her painful journey back to 'wellness' and attempts to rid herself of her addictions for good. Hooked is a graphic tale of how life as a prostitute really is and what can happen when we search for happiness outside of ourselves. It is a poignant reminder that things can always get better, as long as we remember that when it's time to leave the party, it's time.
This compelling, honest book investigates the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse among today's Generation Rx. Through gripping profiles and heartbreaking confessions, this memoir dares to uncover the reality -- the addiction, the withdrawal, and the recovery -- of this newest generation of pill poppers. Joshua Lyon was no stranger to substance abuse. By the time he was seventeen, he had already found sanctuary in pot, cocaine, Ecstasy, and mushrooms -- just to name a few. Ten years later, on assignment for Jane magazine, he found himself with a two-inch-thick bottle of Vicodin in his hands and only one decision to make: dispose of the bottle or give in to his curiosity. He chose the latter. In a matter of weeks he'd found his perfect drug. In the early half of this decade, purchasing painkillers without a doctor was as easy as going online and checking the spam filter in your inbox. The accessibility of these drugs -- paired with a false perception of their safety -- contributed to their epidemic-like spread throughout America's twenty-something youth, a group dubbed Generation Rx. Pill Head is Joshua Lyon's harrowing and bold account of this generation, and it's also a memoir about his own struggle to recover from his addiction to painkillers. The story of so many who have shared this experience--from discovery to addiction to rehabilitation -- Pill Head follows the lives of several young people much like Joshua and dares to blow open the cultural phenomena of America's newest pill-popping generation. Marrying the journalist's eye with the addict's mind, Joshua takes readers through the shocking and often painful profiles of recreational users and suffering addicts as they fight to recover. Pill Head is not only a memoir of descent, but of endurance and of determination. Ultimately, it is a story of encouragement for anyone who is wrestling to overcome addiction, and anyone who is looking for the strength to heal.
You already know the women you'll meet in this book. They may sit beside you in the pew . . . or join you at small group . . . or touch your heart from a speaker's podium. They have all been saved. They all love the Lord. And yet . . . One struggles with sucidal despair Another is involved with adultery, pornography, or a same-sex attraction Another endures regular beatings – or worse – by someone who claims to love her Another is divorced . . . or thinking about it This one drinks secretly or "doctor shops" for pain pills That one wrestles with depression or bipolar disorder And many others feel they can never be thin enough, beautiful enough, successful enough . . . or Christian enough to be loved or accepted They're all good Christian girls who have been broken by sin – their own and others. They all needed the honest, life-giving truth at the heart of this book. Do you? Tammy Maltby addresses issues that aren't discussed much in church circles – private sins that she and other women have battled.
A gripping, ultimately triumphant memoir that's also the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the neuroscience of addiction written for the general public. FROM THE INTRODUCTION: "We are prone to a cycle of craving what we don't have, finding it, using it up or losing it, and then craving it all the more. This cycle is at the root of all addictions, addictions to drugs, sex, love, cigarettes, soap operas, wealth, and wisdom itself. But why should this be so? Why are we desperate for what we don't have, or can't have, often at great cost to what we do have, thereby risking our peace and contentment, our safety, and even our lives?" The answer, says Dr. Marc Lewis, lies in the structure and function of the human brain. Marc Lewis is a distinguished neuroscientist. And, for many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a series of dangerous substances, from LSD to heroin. His narrative moves back and forth between the often dark, compellingly recounted story of his relationship with drugs and a revelatory analysis of what was going on in his brain. He shows how drugs speak to the brain - which is designed to seek rewards and soothe pain - in its own language. He shows in detail the neural mechanics of a variety of powerful drugs and of the onset of addiction, itself a distortion of normal perception. Dr. Lewis freed himself from addiction and ended up studying it. At the age of 30 he traded in his pharmaceutical supplies for the life of a graduate student, eventually becoming a professor of developmental psychology, and then of neuroscience - his field for the last 12 years. This is the story of his journey, seen from the inside out.
The intimate, inside story of the ultimately tragic life of multiple Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse (“Rehab,” “Back to Black”) is told by the one person most able to tell it—Amy’s closest advisor, her inspiration, and best friend: her father, Mitch. Amy, My Daughter includes exclusive, never-before-seen photos and paints an open and honest portrait of one of the greatest musical talents of our time.
In Honey's debut novel, a man must learn how to cope with his wife's heroine addiction while raising two daughters and being the mayor of Atlanta. Atlanta's mayor, The Honorable Josiah J. Bishop, has an addiction to his wife, Mink, that is just as powerful as her toxic love affair with heroin. As her life spirals out of control due to her obsession with the needle, his love and devotion to her is slowly shredding his soul into tiny pieces. But he just can't let her go. The brotha's loyalty to the love of his life and the mother of his two young, adorable daughters is deeper than any ocean. No matter how far Mink drags Josiah down into the murkiness of drugs, booze, and danger on the streets of the ATL, he's determined to love, cherish, and honor her until death. He's hooked on her. It's just that simple. The only thing Mink is faithful to is her next fix. She'll cop it wherever she can and by any means, trying desperately to escape from the secret demons of her past that haunt her daily. Mink's troubled soul remains a prisoner of addiction, twirling violently like a tornado and destroying everything in its path. Not even the love of a good man can set her free from emotional bondage. As Election Day approaches, Josiah's bid to serve a second term in City Hall is jeopardized when Mink commits her most heinous act. The media is going wild to cover the tragic murder and robbery of one of Mink's fellow addicts, a wealthy and prominent Hollywood filmmaker who was more than generous to her after she left yet another treatment facility. She's on the run from justice, ignoring Josiah's pleas to turn herself in. Mink realizes that she's at the end of her rope, but Josiah isn't sure if he has any more forgiveness in his heart for his wife. He will always love her, but finally, he desires love in return. His addiction to Mink has blinded him of that one basic need all this time. Now Josiah has a decision to make. Will he stay in the clutches of addiction to the drug called Mink? Or will he kick the habit once and for all and free himself forever?
