What Anne Lamott has said about Addiction and recovery

Lamott describes her first experience of drinking as a transformation that she then chased for twenty years.

“And we chugged them and the whole world sprang into color like in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens the door into Oz. And I could breathe again. And I felt pretty”

TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 15:38

Lamott recounts getting sober on July 7, 1986 after waking up sick and tired of being sick and tired.

“And then finally, July 7th, 1986, I woke up and I just had this feeling. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired”

TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 14:56

Lamott says drinking was normalized in her family and social circle until she had to face what it was doing to her soul.

“And it's unfunny when you're alone with yourself and you have to come face to face with what it's doing to your soul”

TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 16:07