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Blood orange night : my journey to the edge of madness / by Bond, Melissa,author.;
"From journalist and poet Melissa Bond, a gripping account of the author's addiction to benzodiazepines (a family of drugs that includes Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan) and the hidden dangers they pose. As Melissa mothers her infant daughter and a special-needs one-year-old son, she suffers from unbearable insomnia, sleeping an hour or less each night. She loses her job as a journalist (a casualty of the 2008 recession), and her relationship with her husband grows distant. Her doctor casually prescribes benzodiazepines with little fanfare, increasing her dosage on a regular basis. Following her doctor's orders, Melissa takes the pills night after night; her body begins to shut down and she collapses while holding her infant daughter. Only then does Melissa learn that her doctor-like many doctors-has over-prescribed the medication, and quitting cold-turkey could lead to psychosis or fatal seizure. Benzodiazepine addiction is not well studied, and few experts know how to help Melissa begin the months-long process of tapering off the pills without suffering debilitating, potentially deadly consequences. Lyrical and immersive, Blood Orange Night shine a light on the dark underside of benzodiazepines. According to the FDA, approximately 92 million benzodiazepine prescriptions were filled in the US in 2019. In 2018, half of all benzodiazepine prescriptions filled were for two months or longer, despite recommended use of no more than 14 days and evidence that physical dependence can occur within a week. Much like the opioid crisis that has rocked the nation, prescription benzodiazepine addiction is an epidemic reaching a crisis point"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Bond, Melissa; Benzodiazepine abuse.; Insomnia; Insomniacs;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Pain killer : a memoir of big league addiction / by Myhres, Brantt,1974-author.;
"From the only player to be banned for life from the NHL, a harrowing tale of addiction, and an astonishing path to recovery. Brantt Myhres wasn't around for the birth of his daughter. Myhres had played for seven different NHL teams, and had made millions. But he'd been suspended four times, all for drug use, and he had partied his way out of the league. By the time his daughter was born, he was penniless, sleeping on a friend's couch. He'd just been released from police custody. He had a choice between sticking around for the birth, and showing up for league-mandated rehab. He went to rehab. For the fifth time. This is his story, in his own words, of how he fought his way out of minor hockey into the big league, but never left behind the ghosts of a bleak and troubled childhood. He tells the story of discovering booze as a way of handling the anxiety of fighting, and of the thrill of cocaine. In the raw language of the locker room, he tells of how substance abuse poisoned the love he had in his life, and sabotaged a great career. Full of stories of week-long benders and stripper-filled hot tubs, motorcycle crashes and barroom brawls, Playing Guilty is at its most powerful when Myhres acknowledges how he let himself down, and betrayed those who trusted him. Again and again, he fools the executives and doctors who tried to give him a second chance, then a third, then a fourth, and with each betrayal, he spirals further downward. But finally, on the eve of his daughter's birth, when all the money was gone, every bridge burnt, and every opportunity squandered, he was given a last chance. And this time, it worked. It worked so well, that not only has he been around for his daughter for the past eleven years, he was signed by the LA Kings as a "sober coach": a guy who'd been there, a guy who could recognize and help solve problems before they ruined lives and made headlines (as the Kings had seen happen three times that one season). Not only did Myhres save himself, he saved others. Unpolished, unpretentious, and unflinching, Myhres tells it like it is, acknowledging every mistake, and painting a portrait of an angry, violent, dangerous man caught in the vice of something he couldn't control, and didn't understand. If Brantt Myhres can pull himself together, anyone can. And he does, convincingly, and inspiringly."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Myhres, Brantt, 1974-; Myhres, Brantt, 1974-; Myhres, Brantt, 1974-; Hockey players; Recovering addicts;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Finding Murph : how Joe Murphy went from winning a championship to living homeless in the bush / by Westhead, Rick,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Joe Murphy had it all. In 1986, he became the first college-educated hockey player selected first overall in the NHL entry draft. He won a Stanley Cup in Edmonton alongside Mark Messier four years later. But since then, his life has taken a tragic turn, largely due to the untreated brain injuries he suffered as a player. Murphy's life didn't begin on a track that would take him to homelessness and substance abuse. He was smart, dedicated to hockey, and he wasn't afraid to chart his own course. Murphy once scored eighty-two points in a season and was a key player for the Oilers, Red Wings and Blackhawks, among other teams. But one vicious body check during a game changed his life forever. Despite being shaken by the hit, Murphy was cleared to return to the game. Soon after, his entire life seemed to change. Murphy became a journeyman, moving from team to team. Along the way, other NHLers said they noticed something different about him too. Murphy wasn't acting like himself. He was using drugs and alcohol and soon found himself out of the NHL entirely. Eventually, Murphy became homeless. In the spring of 2018, Murphy made his way to Kenora, Ontario, where he lived in the bush, spending his days outside a local convenience store, muttering to himself and taking handouts of food and drinks from passersby. The player who had once set the NHL aflame now slept by the side of the road in the unforgiving North. In Finding Murph, Rick Westhead traces the tragic true story of Joe Murphy and examines the role of the NHL in the downward spiral of one of the league's most promising players."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Biographies.; Murphy, Joe, 1967-; Brain; Hockey players;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The moment : standing up to Bill Cosby, speaking up for women / by Constand, Andrea,1973-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."An inspiring story of resilience and bravery by the Canadian woman who became the linchpin of the case to bring Bill Cosby to justice. Andrea Constand did the right thing, not just for herself, but for sixty other women. When Bill Cosby was convicted on three counts of sexual assault in 2018, the verdict sent shock waves around the globe. Some were outraged that a beloved icon of family values, the man dubbed "America's dad," had been accused, let alone convicted. Others were stunned because they had waited so long to see justice; in accusations going back decades, sixty women recounted how they'd been drugged, raped and assaulted at Cosby's hands. Andrea Constand is just one of these women, but she was the only one with the power to bring him to justice. Constand's decade-long legal marathon required her to endure an excruciating civil suit, and two harrowing criminal trials. It was her deep sense of personal and social responsibility, fostered by her close-knit immigrant family and values earned through team sports, that gave her the courage to testify at the criminal trial--something she agreed to do not for herself, but for the sixty other women whose stories would never be told in court. In The Moment, Constand opens up about the emotional and spiritual work she did to recover from the assault and the psychological regimen she developed to strengthen herself for the courtroom. Ultimately, Constand's testimony brought a powerful man to account. She also gained a new understanding of the resiliency of human spirit, and the affirming knowledge that stepping up and doing the right thing, even when the outcome is uncertain, is the surest path to true healing. From the woman who has been called "the true hero of #MeToo," The Moment is a memoir about the moment a life changes, as hers did when she was raped; about the moment, nearly a decade later, when she stood up for victims without a voice and put herself through an arduous criminal trial; and about the cultural moment, signified by the #MeToo movement, that made justice possible."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Constand, Andrea, 1973-; Constand, Andrea, 1973-; Cosby, Bill, 1937-; MeToo movement.; Rape victims; Sex crimes; Sexual abuse victims; Sexual harassment of women.; Trials (Sex crimes);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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