Recovery Memoirs

For the first time, journalist and historian David Talbot turns inward in this intimate journey through the life-changing year following his stroke, a year that turned his life upside down, and ultimately, saved him. In his signature voice and with powerful storytelling, Talbot examines the physical, emotional, and psychological impact his stroke has had on his identity. Along the way Talbot offers listeners insider stories on the wild early days of internet journalism, insights into the new tech culture, the down and dirty of Hollywood, and much more.

Maybe I Don't Belong Here is a deeply personal exploration of the duality of growing up both Black and British, recovery from crisis and a rallying cry to examine the systems and biases that continue to shape our society. In this powerful and provocative account of a life lived after psychosis, critically acclaimed actor David Harewood uncovers devastating family history and investigates the very real impact of racism on Black mental health.

He was lost because of the addiction, broken from his past, and ashamed of the lifestyle he lived. An Injection of Faith: One Addict’s Journey to Deliverance, is a story of hope, love, and forgiveness from one man’s life with addictions. Author Anthony Ordille reveals his life of drugs and bar living, and how he found freedom from this crippling disease. He will walk you through the paths he took, how they ended, bring you through his years spent in recovery, and end with some of the happiest times he has experienced. Discover: What his childhood was like, how he dealt with his pain, ...

At the age of 27, married, living in New York, and working in book design, Mary Cregan gives birth to her first child, a daughter she names Anna. But it’s apparent that something is terribly wrong, and two days later, Anna dies - plunging Cregan into suicidal despair. Decades later, sustained by her work, a second marriage, and a son, Cregan reflects on this pivotal experience and attempts to make sense of it. She weaves together literature and research with details from her own ordeal - and the still visible scar of her suicide attempt....

In the summer of 2012 a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint, Hans' sister, the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened. Mayhem is an eloquent and timely attempt to understand addiction and a memoir that is as poignant and riveting as it is devastating.

In 2017, at the age of 62, the writer and filmmaker Stephen Trombley left his native America for a simpler life in rural France. He found a little place in the southwest, but after only five months, he was struck down by a stroke that left his right arm paralyzed and his brains scrambled. While he was in hospital, his relationship failed. Alone, broke, and with only a schoolboy’s grasp of the language, Trombley found himself completely dependent on the French medical system. As soon as he was able, Trombley started keeping a diary, recording his long and painful journey.

Tara Sidhoo Fraser is thirty-one years old when a rare mutation in her brain causes a stroke. Awakening after surgery with no memory of her previous life, she attempts to piece it all back together through a haze of amnesia. Yet, as memories do begin to surface, they are seen through someone else's eyes—the person whose body she stole, whom she calls Ghost.

When Deb Brandon discovered that cavernous angiomas - tangles of malformed blood vessels in her brain - were behind the terrifying symptoms she'd been experiencing, she underwent one brain surgery. And then another. And then another. And that was just the beginning. The book also includes an introduction by Connie Lee, founder and president of the Angioma Alliance. Unlike other memoirs that focus on injury crisis and acute recovery, But My Brain Had Other Ideas follows Brandon’s story all the way through to long-term recovery, revealing without sugarcoating or sentimentality Brandon’s struggles - and ultimate triumph.

For 21 years, Paul Merson played professional football. He won two First Division titles with Arsenal and was one of the finest players of his generation. But for 30 years, Paul Merson has also been an addict. Alcohol, drugs, gambling: a desperately unenviable cocktail of addictions and depression which has plagued his entire adult life and driven him to the verge of suicide.

This could be the story of any man, his life driven and guided for half a century by his overwhelming desire for alcohol. This book relates a candid and informative account of an alcoholic’s life and where it leads. It also offers suggestions of reasons for alcoholism, the effects that alcohol has upon the brain, an examination of the law relating to mental capacity, and an ultimately heartfelt plea to anyone instrumental in changing the lives for such unfortunate individuals, to examine more closely the research available.

Dan W., possibly related to Bill W., shares his experience, strength, and hope in this powerful book, Dan 2. 0, on recovering from his addictions to alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. Following his childhood in Africa, the son of missionaries, he became a career Marine, serving nearly 39-years on active duty. Deciding to quit his three addictions, after retiring from the Marines, he discovered that he could not do it on willpower and discipline alone. He needed help, which he found in a Higher Power and in the rooms of AA.

In 2018, 34 people were shot at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Jaime Guttenberg, a 14-year-old, was the second to last victim. That she and so many of her fellow students were struck down in cold blood galvanized many to action, including Jaime's father, Fred, who has become an activist dedicated to passing common-sense gun-safety legislation. This book is not about gun safety or Parkland. Instead, it tells the story of Fred Guttenberg's journey since Jaime's death and how he has been able to get through the worst of times thanks to the kindness and compassion of others.

Award-winning author James Brown gained a cult following after chronicling his turbulent childhood and spiraling drug addiction in The Los Angeles Diaries. This River picks up where Brown left off in his first memoir, describing his tenuous relationship with sobriety, telling of agonizing relapses, and tracking his attempts to become a better father. This is the heartbreaking and at times uplifting tale of Brown's battles, peeking into his former life as an addict and detailing his subsequent ascent to sobriety and fight for redemption.

When the police and FBI exhaust their abilities and options, and when grieving families run out of resources, their last best hope has been an Idaho couple who have spent their retirement years pursuing lost causes—and have located 130 victims from lakes and rivers across the United States and Canada. Gene and Sandy Ralston, a married Idaho couple in their mid 70s, are self-taught underwater search-and-recovery specialists who volunteer their time and equipment. And yet the Ralstons are counted among the best in the world.

The journey of change can be difficult, intimidating, and filled with myriad emotions. It can also be the momentous adventure of a lifetime, complete with fulfillment, wonderful relationships, and incredible discoveries. My first book, WHEN I STOP FIGHTING, detailed my journey from addictions, self-destructive behaviors, and failings to a life I never, ever dreamed was possible.

A child survives the miracle of birth. Regrettably, the doctor discovers an abnormality. Born March 7th, 1973 as the 28th recorded birth to survive with a diagnosis of Eagle-Barrett Syndrome. The rare birth defect involves three triads of urological complications. Continued survival meant multiple surgeries, painful examinations, with tubes inserted into the urethra as the corrective procedures healed. The doctor’s frightening revelations, “a child rarely survives to the age of two.” Each birthday celebration an unknown, "The chance for your survival to the age of sixteen is rare," ...

MicroDosis es un diario escrito durante los dos últimos años en el que Enrique Bunbury decide experimentar en su conciencia la ingesta de microdosis de psilocibina. El género elegido por el autor para narrar este viaje interior es la poesía. De esta forma Bunbury consolida su incursión en la literatura tras la aparición en 2021 de su primer poemario Exilio Topanga (La Bella Varsovia) sumando a los rasgos estéticos presentes en aquel una atmósfera de psicodelia y una crítica a "la norma mental" del sistema.

Hector Vega's story is a must-listen because hope is found in its audio - a hope that is persistent even when there seems to be no way out. His story will grip you as you walk with him through the dark night of the soul that eventually leads to the daybreak of hope. Hector shares his story for one reason....

The Joy of Addiction is a laugh-a-minute, stranger-than-fiction, tragicomedy about a teenager who hurtles into the abyss of drug and alcohol dependency. It is a true story with an unblinking insight into the mindset of an addict and an invaluable message of recovery.

On her journey to near stardom in the music business, Monica Madrid wound up a broke, demoralized alcoholic. Through the twists and turns of a colorful life, she rubbed elbows with Prince, Rick James, and other artists and was in a musical battle with Tupac Shakur. She came close to fulfilling her childhood dream, but once it was stripped from her grasp, her path led to money, prestige - and broken relationships. Monica's story is one of loss, love, and redemption.