Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker
"At once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cut out alcohol. You will never look at drinking the same way again." - Holly Whitaker.
Those are the quotes I was read behind the book "Quit Like A Woman" written by Holly Whitaker. Yes, it is about alcohol, drinking, and addiction.
Released : 09 January 2020
Genre : Autobiography
Publisher : Bloomsbury
Size : 5.8 x 8.3 inches
Format : Paperback
Language : English
Well, I'm not a drinker or alcoholic. As Muslims, we are prohibited from using anything alcohol-related except alcohol sanitizer since covid-19 attacked us worldwide. Maybe I shall say, "can use alcohol products only in an emergency situation?"
Hm. I don't want to discuss that right now. Maybe later. There is the reason I wanted to read this book so much. Since I was born in a drinkers community in my hometown, I was curious why they love the drink so much even though it's may detrimental for themself and others.
I also read this book because the title attracted me. Is woman better than man? Does man have trouble stopping drinking because they are men? Why and what is makes them difficult to quit drinking?
" Quit Like A Woman " is written by Holly Whitaker. She is the founder and CEO of Tempest (formerly Hip Sobriety). With years of experience in the fields of healthcare and tech. She also created a human-centered recovery modality and virtual platform offering education, community, and support services in 2014. Holly has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, and TechCrunch and was named in Inc’s 2019 Female Founders 100 List. Holly is a writer and bestselling author of Quit Like A Woman, a memoir/self-help book about her own recovery. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat Mary Katherine.
This book is about obsession and addiction. To be specific, the book tells the reader some people are obsessed with alcohol because it is a culture. Drinking is something cool to do after work. Drinking is something fun to do as an adult. Drinking is a lifestyle for them.
They also thought drinking is a must-do list because we might look like a boring person without it. Same situation to a smoker that thinks they look so cool smoking without thinking it might destroy themself or others.
At the unconscious point, addicted people might not realize their life are blended with alcohol. The alcohol became their blood. Running in their veins and dominate their body, heart, and brain. Alcohol conquers their life path. Their future might be baffled. The work performance and productivity may disturb at any time. When they feel stressed, depressed, sad, mad, almost every emotion they feel, they will find alcohol. They can not live without it. They thought alcohol helped them to be happy.
When they mess up with problems, they do not want to face them. They chose alcohol to forget all the misfortune that bothered them. They never realize they are destroying their brain, body, health, mind, finances, and everything each time they get drunk. Even a glass of alcohol destroys their body slowly.
They never notice that their alcohol dependence can make destructive bombs. The bombs will explode at any time at any point in their life.
What I write about this book is only a little information. There are so many engaging topics in this book that will be blowing your mind regarding addiction, smoking, alcoholism, and more.
Holly Whitaker also included the prime key in this book for those searching for a way to break the cycle of addiction. It's may look hard.
This book was written based on a true story. It was an authentic experience from the author. The writing point of view is the first person (" i "). So, the readers may understand better why they became addicted thru this story. Why do they always keep the stock of wine or beers at home? Holly Whitaker has the answers.
I can see how difficult to alcoholic people to stop being alcoholics. Especially when they are from the lifestyle-alcohol-normal community. Drinking is a culture. From the parties, events, celebrations, and hangouts, alcohol is something that can not skip.
The author also shows you how alcohol makes the existing problem worst. For example, drinking can destroy performance at work or in personal life. Alcohol is not just a drunk liquid. It is poison based on the book on page 26.
"Until I realized that oh my fucking God, it's actually poison. We're all drinking poison."
The author tells the reader that as long as you keep drinking, every effort of exercise, eating clean, drinking clean water, and having enough sleep is useless.
This book is very instructive to the reader. Can you imagine? Alcoholic people can not distinguish between Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms and alcoholic issues because alcohol addiction can mimic other mental illnesses, especially BPD. - page 70.
I was enjoyed this book so much. Amazingly, the author attached a very beneficial knowledge such as "The short-to Medium-term Effects of Drinking alcohol on page 31.
One of the info very attracted my attention. That is about alcohol is fuels anxiety. It is proof existing issues will be worst.
There are so many things I wanted to share about the greatness of this book but... I think it's better you read it by yourself. It's can help you a lot if you wanted to stop your bad addiction to something.
As a Muslim, I'm living in a non-alcoholic community. But still, there is a group of people who choose to be a drinker and believe that drinking alcohol is healthy. When I was a kid, some elders said alcohol is medicine. But when I asked, what kind of meds? What illnesses of meds? No one gives me an answer.
I really hope the messages from this book will be delivered to every drinker. I also wish they understand how alcohol takes over their beautiful life. I hope they can see that without alcohol is better. Much better almost at every aspect of your life.
A drinker who really wanted to stop drinking will inspire by this book. Stop something we obsess about is hard. Very hard. This book tells all the readers, do not to give up. If you fail, try again. If you fall, rise up again!
It's okay to be unique. It's okay if your friends unfriend you because you are not the old version anymore. It's okay. You should proud of yourself because you did something remarkable for yourself. Believe it or not, you will have great people that value your new version. Trust the process.
Your physical and mental health is your responsibility not to impress others. It's your happiness, not others. Regret is a bad feeling to feel. Do not wait until we regret it.
I really like the part "What Happens in our Bodies When We Drink a Single Glass of Alcohol" in this book. Can you imagine? It's just a glass but it can affect your body! On page 29, it is stated that alcohol is linked to at least 7 types of cancer. It is a nightmare!
Talking about mental health, I actually laughed when I read the below sentences on page 70.
"Why the fuck was being diagnosed with a mental illness so much more hopeful than being diagnosed an alcoholic?"
People sometimes being denial and fight to make them right. In the Malay proverb; 'menegakkan benang yang basah'. They just can't accept the reality.
I also agree with Holly Whitaker when she said,
" What I want to know is why. Why are we so mad at everything and not mad at alcohol is doing to us, or how Big Alcohol lines its pockets from our exploitation and death? Why are we not raging against all the oppressive and absolutely murderous ways alcohol shows up in women's lives, our kids' lives, our sisters' lives, in LGBTQIA community, in communities of people of color or Indigenous people? Why do we fight so hard to transcend our collective oppression, then willingly give parts of the power back after marching for our rights, with a glass or two or the whole damn bottle?"
Why? Yeah I also questioned this a very long time ago. Why? Maybe you have the answers. Feel free to drop your comment below.
In conclusion, I love all the content of this book. Very much. It really helps people. If you need help with your addiction, I suggest you read this book.
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