Review by Njkinny -- Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer
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Njkinny
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- Latest Review: Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer
Review by Njkinny -- Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer
[Following is a volunteer review of "Ripcord Recovery" by T.T. Sawyer.]
Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer is an anecdotal treatise by a recovering addict for other addicts that narrates his own roller-coaster journey of battling his addictions through any and every means known and unknown until he found a solution that worked for him.
Addiction is a disease that has affected so many people all over the world. It is often that we read about people from all walks of life, whether a celebrity or a normal middle-class person, committing suicide in a bid to get rid of this disease. These are the people in the midst of addiction who “can’t imagine life without the drugs” because “it’s too painful”. The author is one such addict who had been in and out of rehabs, stayed sober for decades and still relapsed. Both his personal and professional life was affected because of his addiction to alcohol and drugs. He lost friends and family, suffered in his profession, had memory blackouts where he couldn’t remember a thing, and his mental and physical health deteriorated. He became a mess where life was hell, and death sometimes seemed like an alluring attraction. But then, one major incident forced him to re-evaluate everything and pushed him to take action to control his wayward life.
In this book, he takes the readers inside the head of an addict. His helplessness in being unable to come out of the never-ending loop of addiction and hopelessness when faced with failures. He narrates his many attempts to beat his addiction by following every advice in the book but still craving drink or drugs round the clock.
“I was doing everything by the book. And yet after a year, I still had omnipresent obsessions and cravings to drink or use 24/7…”
Sleep-deprived, irritated and fearful of doing something wrong that could lead to a relapse, he even started blaming himself.
“I blamed myself.
What part of my program was broken?
Why wasn’t I feeling better?
Where was my joy?
I wasn’t living…I was merely surviving…”
He did everything that his doctors and sponsors told him to do, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. It was amidst all this helplessness and confusion that something happened that propelled the author to go the unconventional route for a solution to his addiction.
He found a solution to his cravings and mood-swings in marijuana. Being a banned substance in many states and one that had a bad reputation as being a drug, not much research has been done on the effectiveness of marijuana as a medicine in treating addictions.
While the author claims to have improved by using marijuana in limitation to balance his addictions and says that he is his own experiment subject for this treatment, I still think an explicit disclaimer should have been added to this book regarding the medical complications and legality of this unconventional treatment.
However, despite my qualms about the disclaimer, I still loved the overall positive and hopeful theme of this book. Through this book, the author gives hope to so many hopeless addicts. Through his struggles, he proves that “there is always a path to life…”. He also advocates the importance of keeping the mind, body, and soul healthy. He took to exercising to strengthen his body that in turn, healed his mind too. He also talks about the importance of repetition and practice of the ways to keep mind, body, and soul healthy every day just like one hones the skills taught in athletics or the military again and again. He says that it is not about the length of time you have been sober but about the time you have been happily sober.
“It’s not about how long anyone has been sober, it’s about being happily sober today.”
The compelling cartoon illustrations that show the struggles and life of an addict but in a comic vein add more character to the book. I loved the illustrations and applaud the artist for his incredible skill.
Professionally edited, I found no grammatical errors that enhanced my reading experience two-fold.
A short yet powerful book that will give hope and strength to so many people battling the addiction disease, I enjoyed reading it and felt the author’s pain, helplessness, and hopelessness through his writing. He sucked me in with his narrative and I am so thrilled to know that he was able to control his obsessions and is now leading a happy life. His struggles will resonate with many people giving them hope for a better tomorrow and for this, Ripcord Recovery deserves 4 out 4 stars. Njkinny recommends this book to all people facing addiction and I hope the medical community also reads it. Maybe, this will give way to more research into marijuana as a possible medication to treat addiction. People with no interest in reading about addiction will not find interest in the book. People like me, who have never experienced the curse of addiction will appreciate how lucky they are when they read this book.
******
Ripcord Recovery
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer is an anecdotal treatise by a recovering addict for other addicts that narrates his own roller-coaster journey of battling his addictions through any and every means known and unknown until he found a solution that worked for him.
Addiction is a disease that has affected so many people all over the world. It is often that we read about people from all walks of life, whether a celebrity or a normal middle-class person, committing suicide in a bid to get rid of this disease. These are the people in the midst of addiction who “can’t imagine life without the drugs” because “it’s too painful”. The author is one such addict who had been in and out of rehabs, stayed sober for decades and still relapsed. Both his personal and professional life was affected because of his addiction to alcohol and drugs. He lost friends and family, suffered in his profession, had memory blackouts where he couldn’t remember a thing, and his mental and physical health deteriorated. He became a mess where life was hell, and death sometimes seemed like an alluring attraction. But then, one major incident forced him to re-evaluate everything and pushed him to take action to control his wayward life.
In this book, he takes the readers inside the head of an addict. His helplessness in being unable to come out of the never-ending loop of addiction and hopelessness when faced with failures. He narrates his many attempts to beat his addiction by following every advice in the book but still craving drink or drugs round the clock.
“I was doing everything by the book. And yet after a year, I still had omnipresent obsessions and cravings to drink or use 24/7…”
Sleep-deprived, irritated and fearful of doing something wrong that could lead to a relapse, he even started blaming himself.
“I blamed myself.
What part of my program was broken?
Why wasn’t I feeling better?
Where was my joy?
I wasn’t living…I was merely surviving…”
He did everything that his doctors and sponsors told him to do, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. It was amidst all this helplessness and confusion that something happened that propelled the author to go the unconventional route for a solution to his addiction.
He found a solution to his cravings and mood-swings in marijuana. Being a banned substance in many states and one that had a bad reputation as being a drug, not much research has been done on the effectiveness of marijuana as a medicine in treating addictions.
While the author claims to have improved by using marijuana in limitation to balance his addictions and says that he is his own experiment subject for this treatment, I still think an explicit disclaimer should have been added to this book regarding the medical complications and legality of this unconventional treatment.
However, despite my qualms about the disclaimer, I still loved the overall positive and hopeful theme of this book. Through this book, the author gives hope to so many hopeless addicts. Through his struggles, he proves that “there is always a path to life…”. He also advocates the importance of keeping the mind, body, and soul healthy. He took to exercising to strengthen his body that in turn, healed his mind too. He also talks about the importance of repetition and practice of the ways to keep mind, body, and soul healthy every day just like one hones the skills taught in athletics or the military again and again. He says that it is not about the length of time you have been sober but about the time you have been happily sober.
“It’s not about how long anyone has been sober, it’s about being happily sober today.”
The compelling cartoon illustrations that show the struggles and life of an addict but in a comic vein add more character to the book. I loved the illustrations and applaud the artist for his incredible skill.
Professionally edited, I found no grammatical errors that enhanced my reading experience two-fold.
A short yet powerful book that will give hope and strength to so many people battling the addiction disease, I enjoyed reading it and felt the author’s pain, helplessness, and hopelessness through his writing. He sucked me in with his narrative and I am so thrilled to know that he was able to control his obsessions and is now leading a happy life. His struggles will resonate with many people giving them hope for a better tomorrow and for this, Ripcord Recovery deserves 4 out 4 stars. Njkinny recommends this book to all people facing addiction and I hope the medical community also reads it. Maybe, this will give way to more research into marijuana as a possible medication to treat addiction. People with no interest in reading about addiction will not find interest in the book. People like me, who have never experienced the curse of addiction will appreciate how lucky they are when they read this book.
******
Ripcord Recovery
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Njkinny 
Latest Review: Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer
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Chigo Nwagboso
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Too much of everything is indeed bad, and can ruin ones destiny. Great review.
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