Book review: Recovery, Freedom From Our Addictions - Russel Brand

I've known about Russel Brand for quite some time. I know him as a rather infamous enfant terrible, womanizer, charmer, alcoholic and drug addict made popular by MTV and Hollywood movies. That was years ago.

End of last year, I discovered the new Russel Brand, mostly via his YouTube channel. What a transformation. He still has the same crazy energy but what he is saying now and how he interacts with people is just a complete reversal from the person he used to be.

I like watching or listening to his podcasts, not only because of their content but also because of how articulate Russel is. His command of the English language, the way he is able to express himself with a massive vocabulary whilst still getting his points across, I find quite impressive.

You can find him here: https://www.youtube.com/user/russellbrand

Given the stark contract of the personality I used to be aware of and this thoughtful, articulate and compassionate new version of the same man, I became curious on how he did it. How did he break the self destructive spiral he was in?

Upon investigation, I discovered that he actually wrote a book about it. Recovery. freedom from our addictions. From the reviews I read that for his turnaround he used the 12 steps program.

I have known about the 12 steps program for a long time and what has made me doubtful of its general applicability has been the deep ties to belief and specifically Christianity.

So my interest was properly peaked and I decided to read this book. I liked it. First of all, it is written very much in the same way as how Russel talks in his podcasts. It is beautiful English.

Secondly, he fully gets the point of the roots in faith and Christianity and he fully addresses that in this book. I have now concluded that the 12 step program should be just as useful for an atheist addict or for any addict with any kind of religion.

This book offer Russel's interpretation of the 12 steps. How he has made it work for him. It is quite raw and honest. He explains that he will need to follow the 12 steps program for life if he wants to not relapse. The struggle is real and he fights his battles every day. But there is clear progression and you can see it in the man he has now become.

You don't need to be an addict to read this book. Many people around us suffer from addictions. It does not hurt better understand the psyche of an addict. It also does not hurt to know how addicts can help themselves and how that process works.