Glorious Rock Bottom: 'A shocking story told with heart and hope. You won't be able to put it down.' Dolly Alderton

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People often ask me why I decided to stop drinking, as if there was one single moment. As if there was an epiphany. But the truth is, I decided to stop drinking almost as soon as I started as a teenager. My drinking structured my whole week. If I had an important work meeting on a Tuesday, that meant I couldn’t drink on Monday, which meant I had to drink on Sunday. If I had a party on Wednesday, that meant I couldn’t schedule in any important work on Thursday. And so on.

Being in a relationship with a person with an addiction can feel soul destroying, as the destructive behaviour can erode the trust in a relationship and cause long-lasting damage, I am pleased that Bryony was able to overcome it and turn things around between her and her partner. However, I can’t help but wonder if she is bipolar which caused her alcoholism and cocaine use to become so extreme. Understanding what’s happening in our brains with dopamine and dynorphin is a great place to start if you want motivation to change. It's not an easy read, and there were times the author's self-doubt really wore on me, but it's SO REAL. And so relatable, whether you're an addict or not. It's not a story of never drinking again and life being magically perfect. It's a story of an addict's struggles and triumphs, and how the wins often look like absolutely ordinary moments.Bryony says "life will always be full of new things to learn." I feel that this book paralleled some of my own struggle, when I suffered depression, I never thought it possible to enjoy the simple things in life, nor that I would find genuine interests, nor find contentment, as I gradually overcame it and started to heal, I discovered the beauty in the ordinary, daily life - I'm so thankful I held on. Much like Bryony, I now love baking and cooking, bird song and learning. There is so much to enjoy in life. I have loved Bryony Gordon’s writing ever since ‘Mad Girl’ - the first time I’d ever seen the symptoms of Pure OCD put into mainstream public consciousness. Known for her trademark honesty, Bryony relives the darkest and most terrifying moments of her addiction, never shying away from the fact that alcoholism robs you of your ability to focus on your family, your work, your health, your children, yourself. And then, a chink of light as the hard work begins - rehab; AA meetings; endless, tedious, painful self-reflection - a roller-coaster ride through self-acceptance, friendship, love and hope, to a joy and pride in staying sober that her younger self could never have imagined.

This is a good book for anybody with an addiction, overcoming an addiction, or having been involved with someone with an addiction. Bryony Gordon is a terrific, compassionate writer whose razor-sharp honesty slices through every sentence of this compelling memoir.' Liz Day The key? She’s not afraid to delve into topics of shame, pain or disgust which plague most people with mental illnesses and addiction. Until mainstream society realises that “mental health awareness” cannot be sanitised and palatable, no real awareness will ever be achieved. I knew, almost immediately, that me and booze did not get on as we should. But its power to briefly make me feel ‘normal’ was too strong, and so I stuffed this knowledge down beyond several layers of denial. Life was easier that way, until it wasn’t.Bryony’s voice becoming nearly hysterical throughout the narration was a bit much, not because it was gratuitous but simply because her high pitched, highly dramatic delivery was unpleasant to my ears. Alcohol is a depressant masquerading remarkably well as a relaxant, an Oscar-winning actor that had me fooled for years." But the problem was that I had no idea how to live without alcohol, no sure confidence that there was life beyond booze. It was only the intervention of a sober friend, who took me to some Twelve Step meetings, that allowed me to see the possibility of a life without alcohol, one day at a time. I met other people like me. I saw that I had an illness, and a pretty common one at that. I took myself to rehab. It was hard beyond belief. But I reminded myself that it was no harder than the alternative, which was losing everything. This memoir isn't reflective of my story, but like most books about alcohol prove, it could easily have been. Reading it reaffirmed my decision to go alcohol-free (16 months and counting! ✨) and whether you're sober, sober curious or think you'll never be THAT person who needs to give up the sauce forever, I urge you to read this book. The campaign for the book will be supported by a series of live events producedin collaboration with production company Fane, which will be publicly announced in early February.

We need to be more comfortable talking about incredibly uncomfortable behaviours and symptoms.Bryony does a fantastic job of extending out a hand and saying ‘I’ve been there.’ Choosing to change any harmful behavior requires an intense desire to do so. It is also deeply personal and does not look the same or follow the same rules and guidelines for every person. I guess I'm left with thinking who is this for? Clearly addicts or alcoholics won't be reading this type of book, or probably any, they have other things to be doing with their time, as the book makes clear. Those in recovery hopefully will have their own programme, sponsors, mentors etc. who can more actively support their recovery journey. Perhaps for those impacted by addiction will get the most out of it, gain an understanding from the other side. Living with an addict in your life is so tough I hope this book offers some comfort. I appreciate books written by people who are authentic and honest, with life experience, Bryony is an earnest writer, I could hear it in the emotion of her voice when she was narrating her book on Audible.

Things You Only Know If...

I also find many of those who have been able to overcome an addiction go on to live happier and more fulfilled lives than many of those who never experienced such challenges. They are often people who are more self aware, and have more gratitude for the profound beauty in the simplicity of daily life. I wanted to shake everyone, ‘DRINK’ I wanted to shout, “you’re allowed to drink so why aren’t you drinking properly!’” In soul-baring flashes to the past, to recovery and to life after getting sober, Gordon paints the reader a picture of the height of her addiction, and echoes so many messages we've heard so often - I'm not an alcoholic, *I* couldn't possibly quit drinking, going to rehab only happens to OTHER people... PDF / EPUB File Name: No_Such_Thing_as_Normal__From_the_author_o_-_Bryony_Gordon.pdf, No_Such_Thing_as_Normal__From_the_author_o_-_Bryony_Gordon.epub The truth is, I decided to stop drinking because if I didn’t, I was going to die. I was going to die either by accident – falling off a balcony or down a flight of stairs or choking on my own vomit. Or I was going to die on purpose, by actively making the decision to kill myself. Or – absolutely worst of all – I was going to die very slowly, by living in only the most literal of senses, my so-called life tiny and toxic, a Groundhog Day of misery and anxiety. I stopped drinking because I wanted to start living.

Known for her trademark honesty, Bryony relives the darkest and most terrifying moments of her addiction, never shying away from the fact that alcoholism robs you of your ability to focus on your family, your work, your health, your children, yourself. And then, a chink of light as the hard work begins – rehab; AA meetings; endless, tedious, painful self-reflection – a roller-coaster ride through self-acceptance, friendship, love and hope, to a joy and pride in staying sober that her younger self could never have imagined. Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. Bryony Gordon is a terrific, compassionate writer whose razor-sharp honesty slices through every sentence of this compelling memoir.’ Liz Day With the support of her husband, family and friends, she undergoes a rehabilitation programme and, through the book, she takes us through that process. It's a fascinating, revealing, moving and compelling account. One day we had to lie down on a giant piece of paper and let someone draw an outline around our bodies with a marker. Then we had an hour to fill in said outline, in a way that represented how we were feeling. As I painted my body with glitter, purely because it looked nice, I wondered if I was taking part in an elaborate con. But nothing was as it seemed on the surface in rehab. There was a deeper reason for everything. I was told that the glitter perhaps showed a person who was keen to hide their true self behind a sparkly front. ‘That’s way too obvious,’ I laughed, secretly annoyed that I was so obvious.”

Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number-one bestselling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. These rules – never drink before 7pm, or in front of my child – were very important to me, because they proved I wasn’t an alcoholic. And sometimes, it felt as if my entire life’s work was proving that I wasn’t an alcoholic. Of course, the effort I expended doing this should probably have told me that I absolutely was an alcoholic, but I could not bear the word and would have done anything to avoid it. I could not put this book down and read it within 24 hours. I’d recommend it to anyone who has found themselves at a tremendous low point or feel alienated by the ‘rainbow and sparkle’ lives that people share on social media, or indeed in real life.