Talk about a provocative title! Not only that, but the cover art shows a skull with an open mouth and colorful pills cascading into it from above. This is just a preview of what’s to come inside the pages from pharmacist addict and alcoholic Jared Combs.

The book, Incomprehensible Demoralization: An Addict Pharmacist’s Journey to Recovery, is simply one that you won’t want to put down. Why? For one thing, the book is easy to read. The author doesn’t engage in a lot of scientific terminology or little-known terms that the average person has never heard, much less understood.

Jared, and we’ll call him that, since his words make him seem so likeable – at least, now that he’s been clean and sober for the past seven years – and readers can feel he’s approachable, has been through a lot learning how to overcome his addiction.

Doesn’t every addict and alcoholic who embarks on the road to treatment and recovery? What’s so special about Jared?

The hurdle of even admitting a problem with drugs and alcohol, or just prescription drugs, or any other type of addiction, be it gambling or compulsive sexual activity or whatever, is probably the biggest obstacle any of us seeking a better life has to come to grips with.

Most addicts and alcoholics spend far too much time, even years, denying there’s anything wrong with how they live their lives. They can handle it, they’re not addicted, and others are just blowing things out of proportion, and so on. They’ll do and say anything to keep their growing dependence and addiction hidden from family, friends and co-workers.

All to no avail, as the truth always comes out – and usually it isn’t very pretty. So, too, is the case with Jared, who spent years stealing prescription drugs from the pharmacies where he worked. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Access is one of the biggest triggers to users. And no one has easier access to the candy store of prescription drugs than a pharmacist.

How could anyone jeopardize their job, risk arrest and jail, separation from loved ones, all for the sake of getting a buzz on? That’s what Jared asked himself on more than a few thousand occasions. But the lure of the drug, the sneaky insinuation that addiction has on the brain, always takes over. It isn’t something the addict can control. Addiction completely wipes away any heartfelt determination to kick the habit once and for all.

At least that’s what Jared tells us, and we have to believe he knows what he’s talking about. After all, he lived it. More importantly to readers, however, is that he found his way out of addiction. If he can do it (and, by the way, he still works as a pharmacist and could easily filch drugs and get right back on the addiction bandwagon – but he doesn’t) then others can find their way into recovery as well.

There is sometimes a bit of repetition in the book, as the author will occasionally go back over some of the same territory. This doesn’t detract from the message, which is genuine and should be an inspiration to anyone trying to quit.

And the book really is for people who want to overcome their addiction. While it’s a good read for anyone, including loved ones of addicts and alcoholics, everyone knows that you can’t force a person to want to get clean and sober. He or she has to arrive at that decision alone and work hard to see the process through.

It certainly isn’t easy. A great number of individuals will require more than several serious scrapes with the law or dire consequences – how’s getting jailed a couple of times rank? – before they get to the point where they realize that they need help beyond that of their own making? 

According to anecdotal evidence, as mentioned in the 12-Step rooms and by Jared himself, most addicts/alcoholics won’t budge from their path of self-destruction unless and until they’re faced with losing everything. Jared didn’t lose everything, but he was very close to doing so – and he finally surrendered and asked his Higher Power for help.

Naturally, not everyone who wants to get clean or sober believes in a Higher Power, or a God as we know Him, as they say in the rooms. All we need to do is ask for help from a power beyond ourselves, since we haven’t been the very best judge of our behavior or possess the ability to control our addiction. Something or someone or some other presence must have a hand in helping us right our lives and stop engaging in self destruction.

Jared found his spirituality in a jail cell, locked alone in the drunk tank. Call it what you will, believe it or not, what happened to Jared that dark and long night was nothing short of a miraculous turnabout. It took a long time for him to begin to see and appreciate that he couldn’t go it alone, but once he begged and prayed for guidance and help from God, he received it.

Granted, Jared grew up in a religious family, so his experience with spirituality wasn’t too much of a stretch. But he’s the first to admit that he’d long since strayed from being close with God. Indeed, he felt that he didn’t deserve God’s help for a very long time.

What are we to take away from this? The simple answer is that each person’s path toward recovery is unique and as different from the next person’s as night and day. Sure, there may be similarities, but no two people are alike and neither are their experiences embracing recovery.

Suffice to say that Jared Combs has written a book that is, or should be, an inspiration to those among us who yearn to ditch their addiction, starting right now. Be aware that the path will be rocky and doubts will be plentiful. There may be starts and stops and there most certainly will be times when we feel like we just can’t make it.

Be comforted. As Jared’s story shows us, we will find the way if we keep on pursuing it – and if we ask for help.