The Weight of Air: A Story of the Lies about Addiction and the Truth about Recovery

Product Description
"Haunting memoir . . . Readers will cheer for Poses [in this] potent addition to the literature on drug addiction and recovery."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)"A riveting and deeply personal account . . . The blueprint for hope and survival.”—Gerald Posner, New York Times bestselling author of PharmaWhile his wife and two-year-old daughter watched TV in the living room, David Poses was in the kitchen, measuring the distance from his index finger to his armpit. He needed to be sure he could pull the trigger with a shotgun barrel in his mouth. Twenty-six inches. Thirty-two years old. More than a decade in a double life fueled by depression and heroin.In his groundbreaking memoir, The Weight of Air, David chronicles his struggle to overcome mental illness and addiction. By age nineteen, he'd been through medical detox, inpatient rehab, twelve-step programs, and a halfway house. He saw his drug use as a symptom of depression, but the experts insisted that addiction was the problem. Over the next thirteen years, he went from one relapse to the next, drowning in guilt, shame, and secrets, until he finally found an evidence-based treatment that not only saved his life, but helped him thrive.With grit, humor, and brutal honesty, David's story reveals that traditional recovery models actually increase stigma and the risk of overdose, relapse, and death. As depression and addiction rates skyrocket and overdose fatalities surge, The Weight of Air is a scathing indictment of our failed response to the opioid crisis—and proof that success is possible."David Poses's unflinching memoir takes you to the dark corners of addiction—and shows there's a way out."—Eric Eyre, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Death in Mud Lick"A searingly honest addiction memoir with a much-needed perspective."—Maia Szalavitz, New York Times best-selling author of Unbroken Brain
Review \n"In this painful, haunting memoir, Poses takes us on a roller-coaster ride: bouts of heroin abuse mixed in with periods of sobriety, which will give readers hope for his prospects—only to have them dashed. . . . A potent addition to the literature on drug addiction and recovery."\n—Kirkus Reviews (starred)\n"David Poses's unflinching memoir takes you to the dark corners of addiction—and shows there's a way out."\n—Eric Eyre, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Death in Mud Lick\n"A searingly honest addiction memoir with a much-needed perspective: addiction is frequently the result of attempts to self-medicate mental illnesses like depression, yet our system treats people with punitive methods that actually make matters worse."\n—Maia Szalavitz, New York Times best-selling author of Unbroken Brain\n"A moving, tender, thoughtful account of addiction and also a compelling critique of a lot that's wrong with the dominant model of addiction treatment."\n—Johann Hari, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream\n"A riveting and deeply personal account of addiction and the flawed treatment system that repeatedly failed him. . . . The blueprint for hope and survival that is ultimately his story could not arrive at a more important time as the nation grapples with its overdose epidemic."\n—Gerald Posner, award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author of Pharma\n"A fluidly written, disarmingly blunt account of heroin addiction and recovery."\n—Keith Humphreys, White House drug policy adviser to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama\n"Entertaining, honest, darkly comedic, and smart as hell, David Poses's
The Weight of Air is a painfully accurate portrayal of heroin addiction and the sorts of treatments forced upon us. . . . [His] book is badly needed during a time when the overdose crisis is at its apex."\n—Amy Dresner, author of My Fair Junkie\n"
The Weight of Air is at once an intensely personal memoir and a much-needed blueprint for saving lives during this time of profound crisis."\n—Brandon del Pozo, PhD, retired deputy