RECOVERY BOOKS:

The Healing Game. Real Stories of
Heroin Addiction Recovery: A Gift of Hope for Families

~By Bill Brids and
Maureen Morrissey-Capen

“I eventually changed from
treating recovery as a chore,
to embracing recovery in my life.”
~Charlie from Duxbury

~Review by Judy Herzanek,
Changing Lives Foundation

 

I love this quote (above) by “Charlie” –the subject of the third memoir in “The Healing Game,” a wonderful collection of the lives of three young adults, their struggle with addiction and personal triumphs.

This is a book of hope. The stories are typical and real. The authors begin with their own words; these are words from parents who know firsthand what they are talking about.

“The emotional highs and lows an addicted child brings to a parent’s heart rival any known to the human condition. Family bonds, once solid as granite, are shattered and continually tested–as deceit, desperation and manipulation replace respect, trust and love. Battle-lines are drawn between husband and wife, sibling and parent. Frail grandparents are manipulated, while family heirlooms begin to decorate the cast iron shelving of the local pawnshop, sold to feed the monster called Addiction.”

This book details the lives of three young adult opiate addicts–good kids from “proper homes.” We follow them as the insidiousness of addiction takes hold and fights to destroy–their lives, their families and their futures.

Although I was drawn into each story and found each young adult’s struggle unique, the account of “Charlie from Duxbury” was particularly enlightening to me. His deadly roller-coaster ride with addiction was finally arrested as he triumphantly discovered the keys to a new life.

“When I was enslaved to my addiction I used to wake up in the morning and my first thought was. . . Who am I gonna rob today? . . . I thought that detox was all I needed. . . (but) I needed to fix my head, and the only way I could do that was to go through the Twelve Steps.”

As per the authors, each of the three young addicts profiled in this book actively continues their recovery. This book was written to offer families a gift of hope. The best way to convey this hope is in Charlie’s own words “Being an addict has definitely changed me in a positive way. When I was using drugs, I thought that drugs and alcohol were going to be a part of my life forever. I didn’t know that there was a way to be happy without mind-altering substances. . . . I love sobriety because I can now help others”

I recommend this book to anyone who has had their life touched by addiction–to better understand, provide real-life examples of hope and give readers encouragement that people can and DO recover.

“The path you take to recovery is up to you.
It really depends on how willing you are to find and work recovery.”

~Authors Bill Brids and Maureen Morrissey-Capen are both parents of recovered addicts and live on the South Shore in Massachusetts. They met at a local support group and became friends.

 

 

The Healing Game:
Available exclusively on Amazon Kindle

RESOURCES:
> Recommended Books and DVDs
for families of substance abusers and addicts
> Low cost, No cost Alcohol and Drug
Treatment Directory

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