Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions

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Russell Brand is an extremely intelligent, strangely likeable and often hilarious man. He has made mistakes in life (one rather famous one involving Jonathan Ross will probably never be forgotten) but he has also overcome a lot too. This book goes through how he has managed to maintain sobriety for many years. The comedian Russell Brand, in New York this month, has a point to make about addiction.Credit…Bryan Derballa for The New York Times

I wrestled with the idea of buying this book and eventually decided to buy the kindle version. I have always liked Russell Brand but was at odds about whether him writing a book based on the 12 steps was in conflict with my personal beliefs about remaining anonymous in AA. I took ages to make up my mind about whether him writing this book and being so candid and honest was morally correct but then I decided that if it was going to help people then I should not have a view on it either way and it is his choice at the end of the day. I am not the a "12 step police woman after all :-)))" I can relate to him in so many ways and although our addictions are slightly different and some cross over each others addictions, we have both been sober for roughly 14 years.

Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions

I applaud anybody who can use a 12 step program to both get and maintain sobriety (note: I will use sober in this review to mean free from addiction. I will use it to mean not using or doing a destructive behaviour that a person is addicted to.) I will add that my own experience (and those I have been around) have included variable results with them. s? Sure. When an author expresses himself with such sincerity, intimacy, and intelligence -- I am inclined to feel gratitude for the shared experience. (And never has the phrase "F*ed up* sounded so proper.) I also thought Brand's definition of addiction and how that broadened interpretation fit into our current world was significant. I bought this book (and the audio version which is narrated by Brand) to expand my understanding of addictions and recovery, and also as a reader that has experience with the subject professionally and within my family that is always looking to better understand. I've read extensively on the subject, lived with it, and worked with addicts. And I think that sadly, that has become the norm. Read Also: How To Stop Your Addiction To Food Provincial And Territorial Health And Support Services Health and support services in British Columbia Since Simon Amstell started performing long-form standup 10 years ago, hes made a virtue of holding his angst up to public scrutiny with an honesty that many performers shy away from, so its perhaps inevitable that a book should follow. Yet its hard to escape the sense that this particular book doesnt quite know what it wants to be. He nods to this in the introduction, explaining that the original suggestion was to publish transcripts of his major standup shows. And who for? For people who dont like hearing standup out loud?

This is the age of addiction, a condition so epidemic, so all encompassing and ubiquitous that unless you are fortunate enough to be an extreme case, you probably dont know that you have it. Summary: “Comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction — from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not ‘Why are you addicted?’ but ‘What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running — into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person’s arms?'”– I never thought i’d read a book penned by Russell Brand, and yet here I am. My understanding of Brand has mostly come from the tabloids: I’m familiar with his past dependency on narcotics, his ill-fated marriage to Katy Perry, his Hollywood films. But I hadn’t heard about him in some time. He’d dropped off my radar. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, I heard news of the impending release of this book. With a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction--from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not "Why are you addicted?" but "What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running--into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person's arms?" With a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction—from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not “Why are you addicted?” but “What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running—into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person’s arms?”Saskatchewan residents at risk of an opioid overdose or who might witness an opioid overdose are eligible for free training and a free Take Home Naloxone kit but other than that I was really really impressed with how this managed to communicate that it’s OK and it’s Human to make mistakes, to give in to the monkey mind, to choose the wrong ‘program’ to solve our darkest, deepest woes - it’s human to suffer in this way. With a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction—from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not “Why are you addicted?” but "What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running—into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person’s arms?"

My qualification for writing this book is not that I am better than you, its that I am worse. I am an addict, addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, money, love and fame.

Help By Simon Amstell Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions By Russell Brand Review

s? Sure. When an author expresses himself with such sincerity, intimacy, and intelligence -- I am inclined to feel gratitude for the shared experience. (And never has the phrase "F*ed up* sounded so proper.) I also thought Brand's definition of addiction and how that broadened interpretation fit into our current world was significant. I bought this book to expand my understanding of addictions and recovery, and also as a reader that has experience with the subject professionally and within my family that is always looking to better understand. I've read extensively on the subject, lived with it, and worked with addicts. And I think that sadly, that has become the norm. He comes across as genuinely trying really hard to cover all social aspects of recovery and the book is full of his own personal examples of the steps which was a really kind and thoughtful as well as helpful way to explain them. The steps can be confusing to anyone and the way he has outlined them make it so simple and helpful. Wow. A few months ago my mum told me about this podcast she had started listening to called 'Under the Skin' created and hosted by Russell Brand. I was intrigued by the things she told me about it and so started listening and was captivated by the guests he had on, the topics they discussed and the incredibly honest and vulnerable way he shared parts of his own story. Fast forward a few months and from listening to his podcast I learnt about Russell Brand's newest book Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions. But it’s also human to believe in something greater within, and this is one of the many ways to find that. This manual for self-realization comes not from a mountain but from the mud…My qualification is not that I am better than you but I am worse.” — Russell Brand