Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Addiction & Recovery

This Naked Mind offers a new, positive solution. Here, Annie Grace clearly presents the psychological and neurological components of alcohol use based on the latest science and reveals the cultural, social, and industry factors that support alcohol dependence in all of us. Packed with surprising insight into the reasons we drink, this book will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture and how the stigma of alcoholism and recovery keeps people from getting the help they need.

Tobacco is bad for us; that’s a given. But even though you may know the negative health effects, nicotine’s hold is strong, subconscious, and emotional: It tastes good, it’s a companion when you’re alone, and it can be a shield against stress. What if none of these things were true, though? What if nicotine actually tasted bad and didn’t make you less lonely? What if it didn’t relax you? It may seem hard to believe, and it’s okay to be skeptical, but coming to a new mindset about smoking and vaping is the key to quitting.

A startlingly frank memoir, Quitter documents one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment.

In a culture where sipping "rosé all day" is seen as the epitome of relaxation, "grabbing a drink" the only way to network; and meeting at a bar the quintessential "first date", many of us are left wondering if drinking alcohol really is the only way to cultivate joy and connection in life. Jardine Libaire and Amanda Eyre Ward wanted to live spontaneous and luxurious lives, to escape the ordinary and enjoy the intoxicating. Their drinking, however, had started to numb them to the present moment instead of unlocking it.

When Kristina Kuzmic started to see signs that her otherwise sunny, resilient teenage son was struggling, she felt sure that a few simple fixes would right the ship. Over the following months, the issues her family faced were more nuanced, complicated, and pervasive than she could've predicted. Not only that, the obligations, ideas, and unrealistic standards she'd unintentionally aborbed from parenting culture and social media made it impossible to ask for help, or even put into action the tools she'd been sure she'd deploy in a crisis.

As sober personal development coach Amanda Kuda can attest, you don’t need to have a drinking problem for alcohol to be holding you back. Like a lot of successful young professionals, her life was a carousel of opportunities to drink that ultimately left her feeling unfulfilled in her spirit, relationships, and career. She didn’t hit “rock bottom” or need a recovery program, but she did need a change. It was only when Kuda tried Dry January that she realized sobriety was the linchpin for a better life.

In Broken, William Cope Moyers tells the story of a love affair with alcohol and crack cocaine that led him to the brink of death over and over again. A harrowing account, it paints a picture of a young man with every advantage who found himself spiraling into a dark abyss. Battling shame and self-doubt at every turn, the author finally emerges into the clear light of recovery as he dedicates his life to changing the politics of addiction.

Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.

Vaping has become an urgent public health crisis. Vapers are dying, health professionals are sounding the alarm, and parents are struggling to help their addicted teenagers. Certified interventionist Brad Lamm debunks the myths spread by the thriving e-cigarette industry and its supporters, revealing the truth about the effects of inhaling these highly dangerous aerosols. Then he offers a step-by-step blueprint to break free of its grip. This simple, 28-day program provides specific actions to take, day by day, as you free yourself from nicotine addiction.

Have you ever woken up feeling anxious after a night of drinking? Do you cringe with embarrassment when reminded of your wild antics at girls' night? Are blackouts increasingly becoming a problem? Whichever way you look at it, it's hard to avoid how alcohol really makes some of us feel: terrible. Whether you're simply sober-curious or determined to make a more permanent change, this book shows not only why you should but also how you can, in a way that will change your life forever.

In 2014, novelist Leslie Schwartz was sentenced to 90 days in Los Angeles County Jail for a DUI and battery of an officer. It was the most harrowing and holy experience of her life. Following a 414-day relapse into alcohol and drug addiction after more than a decade sober, Schwartz was sentenced and served her time with only six months' sobriety. The damage she inflicted that year upon her friends, her husband, her daughter, and herself was nearly impossible to fathom. Incarceration might have ruined her altogether, if not for the stories that sustained her while she was behind bars.