i just woke up dead: sex, drug and alcohol addiction memoir

by Justin Donner, Layne Dungan (Editor)

Observe the origins and progression of addiction as a disease stripping away ambition and replacing it with maddening self-destruction. Medical school pressure and the rapid spiral which begins without warning, cunning, clever and chaotic are depicted without apology.

Wake up from the nightmare, try to piece together the facts, understand the blackout, blood and bruises. See what happens, feel the agony and horror first hand as rock bottom is found repeatedly. Try to answer why, comprehend how indiscriminate sex, drug and alcohol addiction is as it rips away everything from anyone, anywhere, anytime and anyplace.

Experience what it means to descend beyond rock bottom.

Travel to hell.

Wake up dead.

Read and learn from a unique case study in addiction and recovery from suicidal crisis resulting in psychiatric hospitalization to realization that wellness is possible.

Genres: Addiction

578 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 22, 2014

About the author

Originally way back from County Donegal, Ireland, the great grandson of an Irish patriot, Justin is an elder millennial father of an amazing kid known as Corrigan. After many travels from the Bellingham bay to the barns of North Dakota and back to the beaches of Oceanside, California, academia to addiction, days are now spent trying to be better than yesterday to help somebody else.

Reviews

[Scarlett O.H.]

What a ride.... This book really made me think. I loved it! I'm adding it to my favorite books. I personally think that having the storyline of the recovery alongside the storyline of the ruin of mr Justin Donner was genius. What a brutaly honest book to write.
Strangely the inside look at what it takes to make a change in your mindset so recovery really works was the biggest eye opener for me. I would recomend this book wholeheartedly!

[Shey Saints]

Summary

I Just Woke Up Dead is a memoir by Justin Donner. In this book, the author shares his life story using a collection of journals, notes, documents, and other significant means to show what could possibly derail a bright future. This book aims to discover the strength and courage to deal with addiction, mental illness, and domestic violence.

Review

I have to be honest. I had a hard time reading this book because it really was written to show, not tell. It was too detailed and my heart just kept getting broken because of the gravity of the author's life experiences. I hope this is not a trend in pre-med students. I know that in every endeavor, there's always an overwhelming pressure and other factors that hinder us from getting what we truly desire to achieve and there will always be situations, people, or inner demons that will block our road to the right path, but hopefully, people will believe there is always hope, and that recovery is possible no matter how hard and long it takes to get there. Overall, I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was well written, well researched, very informative, and eye-opening. Warning: This book contains explicit language and sex, and very sensitive topics.

[Wendy Paoa]

Wonderfully ppwritten about the people who are affected by this matter.

Great memoir. A lot sad to see but easy to relate to. I enjoyed the mockery back and forth between Justin and his 'friends ' the whole book makes u think.......think....alot

[Justin Donner]

Good. Great. Obviously!