Top 14 Books About Heroin Addiction Updated 04 /2024

When you or someone you care about has a heroin addiction, it's normal to feel alone at first. Then again, a lot of people have the same problems.

In fact, many books have been written about living with heroin addiction or caring for someone who does. This is a list of some of the best.

Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict by William S. Burroughs

Even though it was written in 1953, this book about heroin addiction is still one of the best.

The book is called "Junkie" or "Junky." It takes place in 1940s America. He tries morphine at the beginning, which is the natural opioid that heroin comes from. As time goes on, he gets hooked on it and heroin, too. As time goes on, he, too, has issues with alcohol abuse.

It's important for people to know that drug addiction is a real thing that happens every day. The author talks about how cravings and crimes happen as well as what makes people look for drugs in the first place.

For more than 50 years, the book has resonated with a lot of people who have been addicted to heroin. It has also shown their friends and family how hard it can be to stay heroin-free.

The Big Fix: Hope After Heroin by Tracey Helton Mitchell

Newly published in 2016, The Big Fix tells the story of how the author overcame an addiction to heroin for almost 10 years.

An opioid painkiller was prescribed to Tracey Helton Mitchell as a teenager. She quickly got hooked on it because it made her feel good. When the prescription ran out, she switched to heroin, which is easier for her to get than the pills.

For a long time, her addiction caused a lot of problems, including jail time and homelessness. Finally, she realized that she had no choice but to get better.

Her book tells the story of how she went from being addicted to alcohol and drugs to becoming a healthy mother of three.

Mitchell also talks about her own life, but she also talks about the opioid crisis and what she thinks about it. As many treatments work for some people but not others, she talks about how each person needs a treatment plan that is unique to them.

She also talks about addiction-related problems that are more common in women, like going to prostitutes to get money for drugs.

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Published in 1993, this collection of short stories is about a group of young men who live in Scotland. Their heroin addiction has caused them to go to jail, overdose, and break up with their friends and family.

Through the book, many of the characters get clean, then get clean again, and try to get clean again.

This picture, even though it's dark, is real for a lot of people. It also emphasizes how important it is to surround yourself with people who truly care about your recovery.

Readers connect with the book even though it isn't based on a true story. It shows heroin addiction in a very honest way. Also, because it has a lot of different characters, it shows that people deal with the disease in different ways.

Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me by Erin Khar

Erin Khar wrote a memoir called 2020 about the 15 years she spent as a teenager and young adult hooked on heroin.

A family member gave her some prescription drugs to play with, and when she tried them, she tried heroin for the first time at age 13. As with most people, her heroin use quickly turned into a habit. In order to avoid being judged, she kept her problems from most of the people who knew her.

After becoming a mother, Khar was able to stop taking heroin. In her book, she talks about how becoming a mother gave her the motivation she needed to stay sober.

Her story not only gives people hope, but it also shows that stigma is one of the main reasons people don't get help for addiction. Khar says that the opioid epidemic won't go away until we remove the stigma that comes with addiction.

Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Meth Addiction by David Sheff

It's a New York Times bestseller that talks about how drug abuse affects a person's whole family. Journalist David Sheff talks about that in the book. He became addicted to crystal meth while he was still in high school. He also had problems with other drugs, like heroin.

The memoir talks about how Nic's addiction affected his family in many different ways. To show how this works, he stole money from them and was arrested in front of them. He also went to a lot of rehab centers and tried to get clean again and again.

In this text, the author talks about how he felt helpless and guilty after these events. Toward the end of the book, he accepts the fact that while he can help his son, he isn't in charge of his recovery. Since its release in 2008, the book has been read by many families whose loved ones have been addicted.

Later, Nic wrote a book called Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines. The book talks about Nic's drug use and how he tried to stay clean for himself and his family.

If you or someone you care about is addicted to heroin or another drug, please call Ark Behavioral Health. We can help. Our drug addiction treatment centers offer medical detox, mental health counseling, support groups, and other services that help people who are trying to get clean.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This is a book that's supposed to be for young people, but it's just as good for adult people. When Junior was 14, he was a Spokane Indian living on a reservation. This story is about Arnold, who was born that way. Junior was born with brain damage because his parents were alcoholics. He has to deal with all the bullying, poverty, abuse, and alcoholism in his community. The story shows how alcoholism is linked to issues like cultural oppression and economic inequality: It shows how alcoholism is linked to these things. "I think there are a lot of different types of addicts, I think," says the man. Everyone has pain. We all try to find ways to make the pain go away.

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