Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Memoir of a Father's Struggle with His Son's Addiction and the Journey to Recovery

by David Sheff

Drugs shield children from dealing with reality and mastering developmental tasks crucial to their future. The skills they lacked that left them vulnerable to drug abuse in the first place are the very ones that are stunted by drugs. They will have difficulty establishing a clear sense of identity, mastering intellectual skills, and learning self-control. The adolescent period is when individuals are supposed to make the transition from childhood to adulthood. Teenagers with drug problems will not be prepared for adult roles . . . They will chronologically mature while remaining emotional adolescents.”

Nic relapsed after Beautiful Boy was published—I wrote about the last relapse in the latest edition Beautiful Boy. After that, when he finally got and stayed sober, he was 28, but in many ways he was – as he has said –15. Nic describes how he used drugs to avoid uncomfortable feelings and as a result never learned the lessons that we – all of us -- need to learn as we grow up: to cope when we fail; to experience having our hearts broken; to feel anxious and depressed, because sometimes we all do and will.It’s why recovery from addiction involves more than getting off drugs. It involves rebuilding a life and allowing a person to make up for the time lost. Its why many people in recovery need support for a long time.I can tell you some good news, though – Nic is proof that you can make up for the time lost, that you can thrive…