Summary of David Poses' The Weight of Air

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of David Poses' The Weight of Air in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: 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 nineteen, he'd been through medical detox, inpatient rehab, twelve-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 thirteen 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669341239

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on David Poses's The Weight of Air

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The author tried to quit several times, but always ended up using again. One time he ended up in the hospital, where he learned that his heroin use was out of control.

#2

One night, while Howie was visiting his father in prison, the nurse came to take his father to the hospital. His father had been using drugs for many years, and had fallen off of a roof while high, breaking his neck.

#3

The author’s last hospital visit was two years ago, when his mother’s cancer came back. He thought it would be the last time he’d ever have to go to the hospital.

#4

The author, who had relapsed and was in the middle of a medically supervised detox, was told by his parents that he needed to go to Hazelden, a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addiction.

#5

The author’s parents, who had always been supportive of his decisions, were against his decision to quit heroin. His mom cried and his dad yelled at him for the rest of the dinner.

#6

The author arrived at his treatment center, Hazelden, in the middle of