There are many different strategies and ways to stop drinking that people will attempt. Sometimes, they’ll work and sometimes, they won’t work out. There are so many factors that can contribute to successfully quitting alcohol, and everyone is different, so it can feel like it requires all of the stars to align to have a chance at quitting.
It’s not easy to stop drinking, but there are things you can to do put the odds more and more in your favor. One of those things is to build up a strong foundation of knowledge about how addiction works and to really understand your alcoholism.
One of the best ways to gain a new perspective about what’s going on in your mind and body when you drink is to read some stop drinking books, they can give you valuable insights and ways to look at things that you probably haven’t thought about before.
The Best Stop Drinking Books to Help You Quit
Here are some highly regarded books about sobriety and books about quitting drinking that are a must-read for somebody who is just starting their journey, or who has been in recovery for a while. These books could change the way you think about addiction, and help you see a path forward.
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1. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace
- Length: 263 pages
- Published: 2005
This Naked Mind combines science with personal anecdotes and experiences, so there are studies to back things up and stories to help illustrate and explain things in a way that we can digest.
This book covers addiction on a psychological and scientific level, but there’s more to addiction than just the psychological elements because addiction and recovery can also be influenced by our society.
This is a great book to start with because it covers all of the bases and will give you a good foundation and framework to better understand your alcoholism or the addiction problems of somebody you care about.
Some reviewers have commented that this book is heavily influenced by Allan Carr’s work, but that’s an odd criticism because Allan Carr’s work is widely recognized as being fantastic in the field of addictions, and Annie Grace builds upon it and makes it accessible for a new audience.
At the end of the day, there are only so many “innovations” that can happen in this field, and at a certain point it’s all about finding ways to connect this useful information to the people who need to hear it and that’s exactly what this book achieves.
About the Author of This Naked Mind: Annie Grace was successful in the corporate world at a young age, which was around the time that her drinking habits were getting out of control. She was drinking multiple bottles of wine a day, and the success in her professional life was hurting her personal life. She changed her perspectives on alcohol, and overcame her addictions and is now focused on helping other people reach the same point that she did, when she was able to turn things around.
2. The Power of the Habit by Charles Duhigg
The Power of the Habit isn’t about alcoholism in particular, it’s about habits. There are all sorts of habits, from positive ones like going for a jog each morning, to more harmful habits such as alcohol addiction. Of course, alcoholism isn’t just a “habit” per se, but understanding how habits work can help you see patterns emerging when it comes to things that trigger your alcoholism.
This book will help you understand habits in general, and how you can defeat your bad habits and create better ones. Anyone who has a drinking problem stands to learn a lot from this book, and sometimes it’s nice to learn about something that can help you stop drinking, without it actually being a book about alcohol.
About the Author of The Power of the Habit: Charles Duhigg has won a Pulitzer Prize for his work as a reporter, and has written about the science behind productivity in his hugely-successful book Smarter Faster Better. In The Power of Habit, he takes on the formation of habits in the human mind and body. This book isn’t focused on alcoholism, but the lessons and ideas explored by Charles Duhigg are very relatable and relevant to anyone who has struggled with alcoholism.
3. The Sober Diaries by Clare Pooley
The Sober Diaries is a fun read and it’s very relatable to anyone who has a drinking problem. It’s not so much a guide on how to stop drinking, but rather it takes you through what the author discovered about herself and how she was able to stop drinking.
Moreso than a guide, this book will serve as an inspiration and an enjoyable read. You don’t always want to learn about science and psychology in a scholarly sense, right? Sometimes, it’s just nice to hear that you’re not alone and that other people have overcome the same challenges you’re currently dealing with.
About the Author of The Sober Diaries: After leaving a successful career to focus on her family life, Clare Pooley found herself struggling with depression, alcoholism, and all of the negatives that are often associated with drinking heavily each day. After time spent searching around for more information about whether or not she was an alcoholic, Clare decided it was time to stop. This book documents a year in the life of someone who is struggling with drinking, and also recently diagnosed with cancer. After just one year, she was in a completely different, and much better place, and is sharing her story in this book.
4. The Alcohol Experiment by Annie Grace
If you read and enjoy The Naked Mind by Annie Grace, this book is the follow-up that will give you a clear path towards conquering your drinking demons.
Are you willing to take a step back, and humbly accept this one-month experiment? You’ll learn to think about drinking in different ways, as each day teaches you and challenges you to gain a new mindset.
As you go, the goal is for alcohol to become ever so slightly less tempting each day, and for you to become every so slightly better at fighting against the urges, until you find yourself one month out with a new view on things, and new skills that will help you stay sober.
About the Author of The Alcohol Experiment: This is Annie Grace’s second appearance on this list! Annie Grace was incredibly successful in the business world at a young age, however her alcohol addiction that resulted in her drinking 2 bottles of wine a night, had other plans. Annie Grace was able to re-think alcohol and stop treating it as a reward, and she shares her strategy with many people all around the world.
5. The Easy Way to Control Alcohol by Allen Carr
Easy Way to Stop Drinking is a very popular piece of “quit lit”, in other words, literature that’s written to help you quit drinking. This book takes away the need to have perfect willpower, by introducing you to a different way to approaching this problem.
This book uses humor and a very accessible style to ensure that it’s fun and easy to read while still teaching very important lessons.
The author of this book used to work at a regular job, until he left that to start a very successful program for people who wanted to quit smoking. He really changed the game when it came to nicotine addiction, and then went on to write this book about quitting drinking that also opened a lot of people’s eyes to the possibility to quitting once and for all.
About the Author of The Easy Way to Control Alcohol: Alen Carr has helped, quite possibly, millions of people to oversome various forms of dependencies including smoking cigarettes and alcohol addiction. He started smoking at the age of 18, and quit at the age of 48 and has gone on to share what he’s learned and to help other people quit all sorts of addictions.
Stop Drinking Books and Doing the Work
A book can change the way you view addiction, it can teach you things about yourself, it can help give you the words to understand things you already feel, and it can empower you to overcome the strong grip of addiction that’s been controlling your life.
These stop drinking books are some of the best out there, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to decide to pick them up. You’ve got to read through them. It might get uncomfortable at times, somethings self-reflection can be hard, but part of doing the work involves doing things that aren’t always going to be easy or comfortable.
As you make your way through this collection of stop drinking books, you’ll find yourself become a little bit stronger each and every day. Every day that you wake up and decide to read a bit more, to learn a bit more, and to understand a bit more, you’ll increase your power when it comes to being able to quit alcohol for good.
Too much whiskey.
Whiskey has ruined so many things in my life… relationships and family.
I get up every morning and I go to work with a Little bit of a hangover.
And the only thing I can think of before I get off of work is doing a shot.
I used to be in such good health ( twice I was mentioned in karate illustrated magazine)
When my son was killed by his stepdad I fell into a bottle…
Chaz
I am so sorry. I don’t know how you could not fall into a bottle.
I wish I could give you some magic fix. Maybe an idea is don’t tell yourself you won’t do it but try to do some self care first. everyday until it becomes a ritual.
You need time to heal.
Maybe wake up drink hot lemon water. Don’t check your phone. Read something inspiring from a book that may help you. . Say something nice to yourself. Move your body to music. Remind your son you will never stop loving him. And remind yourself that it’s OK To Grieve and be sad. And then when you want to drink just stop and take five big deep breath’s and if you still wanna drink, have a drink have a fucking drink.
according to some experts or just people who have had success In quitting. self care rituals will Turn into a routine which will help. I’m so sorry this happened to you to him. I will keep you in my prayers