Resources
Welcome. Here, you'll find a recommended set of books and articles, and useful educational and advocacy organizations. The resources are split into four categories:
Take your time and explore at your own pace.
Substance Use
The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander, 2010
American Fix, Ryan Hampton, 2018
Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Maia Szalavitz, 2016
Dopesick, Beth Macy, 2018
The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family & Friends
Jeffrey Foote, Kenneth Carpenter, Carrie Wilkens, 2022
The Urge, Carl Erik Fisher, 2022
Lance Dodes and Zachary Dodes, 2014
White Market Drugs: Big Pharma and the Hidden History of Addiction in America
David Herzberg, 2020
Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, Johann Hari, 2015
The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, Sam Quinones, 2021
Undoing Drugs, Maia Szalavitz, 2021
Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy
David Sheff, 2013
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Gabor Mate, 2008
Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
Sam Quinones, 2015
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear
Carl L. Hart, 2021
Articles & Reports:
Alcoholism and Me: ‘I Was an Addicted Doctor, The Worst Kind of Patient , Carl Erik Fisher, The Guardian, February 8, 2022
Opportunities to Improve Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Services, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020
Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice - National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2012
Then and Now: Drug Policy and Harm Reduction Services, New York Academy of Medicine, 2022
The Impact of the US Drug War on People of Color.” In The Oxford Handbook of Global Drug History, Samuel K. Roberts, 2022
White Opioids: Pharmaceutical Race and the War on Drugs That Wasn’t, Julie Netherland and Helena Hansen, 2017
Mental Health
Far From the Tree, Andrew Solomon, 2012
Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors, Susan Sontag, 1977
Crazy: A Father’s Search through America’s Mental Health Madness - Pete Earley, 2006
Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How to Bounce Back - Deborah Carr, 2014
Seeking my Brother’s Voice: Holding onto Long-term Grief through Photographs, Stories, and Reflections - Carolyn Ellis, 2014
Family Trouble: Middle-Class Parents Children’s Problems, and the Disruption of Everyday Life - Ara Francis, 2015
My Age of Anxiety, Scott Stossel, 2014
Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide - Kay Redfield Jamison, 1999
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together - Heather McGhee, 2021
No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America - Ron Powers, 2017
Deaths of Despair: And the Future of Capitalism, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, 2020
Growing Sense of Social Status Threat and Concomitant Deaths of Despair Among Whites - Arjumand Siddiqi, Odmaa Sod-Erdene, Darrick Hamilton, Tressie McMillan Cottom, William Darity, Jr., 2019
The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress - John Teasdale, Mark Williams, and Zindel Segal, 2014
Memoirs of Addiction, Grief, & Resilience
The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion, 2006.
Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia - Harriet Brown, 2011.
Corrections in Ink: A Memoir - Keri Blakinger, 2022.
Life as We Know It: A Father, A Family, and an Exceptional Child - Michael Berube, 1996.
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved - Kate Bowler, 2018.
Promise Me Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose - Joe Biden, 2017.
The Light of the World: A Memoir - Elizabeth Alexander, 2015.
Under Our Roof: A Son’s Battle for Recovery, a Mother’s Battle for Her Son - Madeleine Dean and Harry Cunnane, 2021.
Beautiful Things: A Memoir - Hunter Biden, 2021.
Lifesaving: A Memoir - Judith Barrington, 2000.
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction - David Sheff, 2008.
Cover My Dreams in Ink: A Son’s Unbearable Solitude, A Mother’s Unending Quest - Jessie Dunleavy, 2020.
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia - Marya Hornbacher, 1998.
Blue Nights - Joan Didion, 2011.
My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir - Jason B. Rosenthal, 2020.
Final Negotiations: A Story of Love, Loss, and Chronic Illness - Carolyn Ellis, 1995.
The Not Good Enough Mother - Sharon Lamb, 2019.
After the Death of a Child: Living with Loss Through the Years - Ann K. Finkbeiner, 1996.
Our Children, Our Hearts - Emily Laitmon and Terry Toll, 2008.
Madness: A Bipolar Life - Marya Hornbacher, 2008
Off Our Chests: A Candid Tour through the World of Cancer - John Marshall and Liza Marshall, 2021.
Mental Traveler: A Father, a Son, and a Journey through Schizophrenia - W.J.T. Mitchell, 2020.
Know My Name: A Memoir - Chanel Miller, 2019.
Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy - Jamie Raskin, 2022.
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines - Nic Sheff, 2008.
Resilient Grieving: How to Find Your Way Through a Devastating Loss - Lucy Hone, 2017.
Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir - Jayson Greene, 2019.
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy - Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, 2017.
Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption - William Cope Moyers, with Katherine Ketcham, 2007.
If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Reporter’s Notebook - Katherine Rosman, 2010.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir - Matthew Perry, 2022.
We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction - Nic Sheff, 2011.
Secrets, Scars and Heart Shaped Jars - Pattie Vargas, 2022.
Harnessing Grief: A Mother’s Quest for Meaning and Miracles - Maria Kefalas, 2021.
Your Wild and Precious Life - Liz Jensen, 2024.