The Weight of Air

A Story of the Lies About Addiction and the Truth About Recovery

By: David Poses

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

While his wife and two-year-old daughter watched TV in the living room, David Poses was in the kitchen, measuring the distance from his index finger to his armpit. He needed to be sure he could pull the trigger with a shotgun barrel in his mouth. Twenty-six inches. Thirty-two years old. More than a decade in a double life fueled by depression and heroin.

In his groundbreaking memoir, The Weight of Air, David chronicles his struggle to overcome mental illness and addiction. By age 19, he'd been through medical detox, inpatient rehab, 12-step programs, and a halfway house. He saw his drug use as a symptom of depression, but the experts insisted that addiction was the problem. Over the next 13 years, he went from one relapse to the next, drowning in guilt, shame, and secrets, until he finally found an evidence-based treatment that not only saved his life, but helped him thrive.

With grit, humor, and brutal honesty, David's story exposes the danger in traditional recovery models: They actually increase stigma and the risk of overdose, relapse, and death. As depression and addiction rates skyrocket and overdose fatalities surge, The Weight of Air is a scathing indictment of our failed response to the opioid crisis-and proof that success is possible.

©2021 David Poses (P)2021 Tantor

An Important Book

I struggled to finish this book, but am glad I did as the message is a vital one for addicts and their families.

Excellent

Just finished listening to the audiobook. The story was so honest, and important. I am in the mental health field and thankfully medication assisted treatment is becoming more available and accepted as a best practice for treatment of heroin. I was so sad to see that Poses died a few years ago. Such a tragedy. But he clearly made the world better by sharing his experiences during his short life.

Wow.

This book was both eye opening and earth shattering. If there were 8 stars to give- I would.

A brutally honest recovery memoir

It’s high time (pun intended) that the standard narrative of abstinence only recovery is challenged. Opiate addicts benefit from medication assisted recovery. Stop shaming those on buprenorphene - it works and it saves lives.

Great book!

Fantastic account of substance use disorder and recovery! You will help many! Great job sir! And, thank you! :)