Addiction Word List

ADDICTION

Substance dependence affecting millions globally

WATCH

1. Beautiful Boy — Felix Van Groeningen, 2018 · Film · A father watches his son disappear into meth addiction; devastating and honest.

2. Requiem for a Dream — Darren Aronofsky, 2000 · Film · Four people destroyed by different addictions; visceral and unflinching.

3. Intervention — Various, 2005– · Series · Real families navigating addiction in real time.

4. Dopesick — Danny Strong, 2021 · Series · How Purdue Pharma manufactured the opioid crisis.

5. The Anonymous People — Greg Williams, 2013 · Documentary · Recovery movement advocates breaking the silence around addiction.

6. Euphoria — Sam Levinson, 2019– · Series · Teen addiction and trauma rendered in raw, visual poetry.

7. 28 Days — Betty Thomas, 2000 · Film · A woman forced into rehab confronts her alcoholism.

8. Leaving Las Vegas — Mike Figgis, 1995 · Film · A man choosing to drink himself to death; a portrait of surrender.

9. The Wire — David Simon, 2002–2008 · Series · Addiction embedded inside systems of poverty and policing.

10. Crumb — Terry Zwigoff, 1994 · Documentary · Obsession, compulsion, and the fine line between addiction and genius.

LISTEN

1. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Audiobook — Gabor Maté · Companion to the book; Maté reads it himself.

2. The Fix — Addiction recovery podcast · Weekly interviews with people in long-term recovery.

3. Recovery — Eminem, 2010 · Album · Hip-hop as autobiography of addiction and survival.

4. Master of Puppets — Metallica, 1986 · Album · Addiction as metaphor and anthem; still definitive.

5. The Moth Radio Hour (Addiction episodes) — Various · First-person stories of hitting bottom and coming back.

6. Sober — Pink, 2008 · Song · Raw vulnerability about the fear of what sobriety unmasks.

7. Beautiful Boy Soundtrack — Various artists · Sonic companion to the film; elegiac and haunting.

8. Voices in the Dark — Recovery podcast · Honest conversations with people in and around addiction.

9. Dopesick Nation — Documentary podcast companion · Reporting on the opioid crisis on the ground.

10. Hidden Brain: Addiction episodes — Shankar Vedantam · Science-driven storytelling about why addiction happens.

READ

1. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts — Gabor Maté · A physician working with addicts discovers the roots of his own compulsions.

2. Chasing the Scream — Johann Hari · A decade of reporting on why the war on drugs fails and what actually works.

3. Beautiful Boy — David Sheff · A father’s account of his son’s meth addiction; essential parent reading.

4. The Recovering — Leslie Jamison · A memoir and cultural history of addiction woven together brilliantly.

5. Dopesick — Beth Macy · The definitive account of the opioid epidemic and the people it killed.

6. Tweak — Nic Sheff · The son’s side of Beautiful Boy; raw and uncomfortably honest.

7. Quit Like a Woman — Holly Whitaker · A feminist dismantling of alcohol culture and recovery industry.

8. Infinite Jest — David Foster Wallace · A novel about entertainment, addiction, and the nature of desire.

9. Lit — Mary Karr · A memoir of alcoholism, motherhood, and unlikely faith.

10. A Million Little Pieces — James Frey · Controversial but culturally significant portrait of rehab and identity.