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  • This Naked Mind

  • Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life
  • By: Annie Grace
  • Narrated by: Annie Grace
  • Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (705 ratings)

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This Naked Mind

By: Annie Grace
Narrated by: Annie Grace
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Publisher's Summary

Millions of people worry that drinking is affecting their health, yet are unwilling to seek change because of the misery and stigma associated with alcoholism and recovery. They fear drinking less will be boring, difficult and involve deprivation, and significant lifestyle changes.

This Naked Mind offers a new solution. Packed with surprising insight into the reasons we drink, it will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture. Annie Grace brilliantly weaves psychological, neurological, cultural, social and industry factors with her extraordinarily candid journey resulting in a must-listen for anyone who drinks.

This audiobook, without scare tactics, pain or rules, gives you freedom from alcohol. By addressing causes rather than symptoms it is a permanent solution rather than lifetime struggle. It removes the psychological dependence allowing you to easily drink less (or stop drinking). Annie's clarity, humour and unique ability to blend original research with riveting storytelling ensures you will thoroughly enjoy the process.

In a world defined by 'never enough', Annie takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of alcohol and specifically the connection between alcohol and pleasure. She dispels the cultural myth that alcohol is a vital part of life and demonstrates how regaining control over alcohol is not only essential to personal happiness and fulfilment but also to ending the heartache experienced by millions as a result of second-hand drinking.

Finally, with perfect clarity, this book opens the door to the life you have been waiting for.

©2018 Annie Grace LLC (P)2018 Penguin Random House Audio

What listeners say about This Naked Mind

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Unoriginal and irritating

I'm a middle-aged man and this book immediately grated with me with its over-exaggerated, every 4th-word emphasis style of presentation and near plagiarized content. This style of writing and delivery might be more relatable to the millennial generation and later but it irritates me to no end. I couldn't finish the book.
Also, as others have commented on Amazon and Goodreads, this is a regurgitation of the work of other very smart authors. She even uses exactly the same examples from other books (the pitcher plant from Alan Carr for example). I recommend you read some of those reviews first and perhaps find those books that she refers to and read them instead.

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14 people found this helpful

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Delivers as promised

Annie has really helped to change my perception of alcohol. Annie is the reader which really helps to deliver the message as she is so passionate. I feel like I know her personally.

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8 people found this helpful

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Very poor

Unfortunately I found this book impossible to listen to. After 8 chapters I was unable to take any more. Annie is a self proclaimed expert (experience n=1) who tells you repeately she is going to empower you to change your life but then gives no meaningful information just a new repetition of the same promises with every chapter. I dont have the patients to see if later chapters are better. I find myself telling the speaker "get on with it !" or "you've said that already 5 times !" Plenty of pseudo science and hope but not much more. I'm sure there will be better books on this topic out there.

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7 people found this helpful

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Helpful

The fact that i can relate to this book so much is really reassuring. To know other people are going through the same issues I have. This book has made me realise i was never in control.

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5 people found this helpful

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The content was good.

I struggled to listen to whole thing. It could have just been me, but I was not interested.

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3 people found this helpful

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Not relatable for me

This book came with many recommendations but it was just not relatable to me. It is modern, western centric view which probably relates to many people. It has more focus that alcohol is advertising, commercial and just sugar drink. I am sure it helped many change and reflect but i couldn't relate to the book or get into it. I enjoyed "We are the Happiest" book though.

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Not helpful for me

I was pretty disappointed with this book tbh. The author seemed to constantly ramble on about how bad alcohol is, almost as if trying to convince herself. Some things she stated as more or less facts (“people almost always drink more as they get older”), just didn’t ring true from my experience. Most people I know in their thirties and forties drink a lot less now than they did in their twenties. Another issue I had was how she played down the enjoyment you get from alcohol. No it doesn’t make you happy, but it does give you pleasure. There’s no way around that, it can harm your health and cause myriad other problems but it IS pleasurable. Anyway, I didn’t like this book but you could possibly get some benefit out of it, so maybe give it a shot. Hey

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

so very worth it

so very thought provoking - I found what I was looking for and more - thanks Annie x

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  • Ben
  • 11-02-2021

Great book to help cut back

For me this book let me see alcohol from a new point of view. My desire to drink has changed stright away, for the better 😊.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good intentions but turns to scaremongering gibberish

The author starts off with really good intentions and describes a lot of psychological issues with alcohol which, while not new, makes sense. I did feel empowered to start off but then it seemed like she ran out of ideas. There was quite a bit of Showmanship with her life about how great she was with the great husband in a great job doing the great expensive things and how hilarious things get without the poison. It just got too much. A few real examples how as a mere mortal she stuffed up and the consequences would have gone far better. When she described to a friend that she would not ask her to drink motor oil in moderation, so why get her to drink the evil poison etc etc that is alcohol, I just had to stop listening. Alan Carr’s book on smoking was excellent, but he tried the same trick with drinking and it had the same affect as this book, way too much. Nice try but, excuse the pun, no cigar!!

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1 person found this helpful

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  • G. Vaughan
  • 04-02-2022

Got me sober keeps me sober.

this book gave me freedom from alcohol and from the stigma of the non medical irrational recoverism.

I used to wish I could drink but couldn't because I had a character defect. Now I know the truth: alcohol is an addictive drug and nothing abnormal happened to me.

I became addicted to an addictive drug. Of course!

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  • Florence
  • 21-05-2021

Finally I have quit drinking! Highly recommended.

This book finally changed my mind through the liminal messages for the concious / sub-conscious mind and the naked facts on alcohol, I realized that alcohol creates it’s own craving and genuinely does not enhance my life or events, but simply creates a fog. I like Annie’s approach dont stop while listening/reading but become fully aware each time you do drink before / after. I do feel absolutely better without it and it is indeed a cancer causing poison! I dont have to plan around it, I can drive, I can do so much more! I have focus and clarity. I have so much more free time to enjoy life. Thank you Annie!

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  • me
  • 02-10-2022

Free :-) Thank you!

What a wonderful contribution to humanity. No judgement, No stigma. Just freedom from alcohol. I didn't even make it to the end of the book before quitting seven months ago and feel such joy in my new life. Thank you, thank you. Annie's compassion is, what I think, makes all the difference. I love that she narrated the book herself, because you can hear how much she cares. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Kirsty Gastrow
  • 05-04-2022

Great motivation. Lovely listening voice.

I've read some of the reviews and for the people who left negative ones, they really need to get a life. I for one haven't read every single drinking book in the entire world like they have, but I found this book an easy listen. A soft motivational and kind book to help you - not force you, on your way to freedom. Drinking is a sensitive topic and I found this book approached it that way. Helpful, motivational and kind with sprinkles of science to get you thinking. I finished it in 1.5 days, while driving, cooking and working. No mess , no fuss. And I feel good.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Kirsten Filler
  • 16-06-2021

Game changer

I’ve been struggling for years trying to stop my daily habit of wine. Quitting always a struggle and never able to maintain it for more then a few weeks with 5-o’clock cravings.
Since starting this book I’ve stopped drinking, don’t have any cravings and really enjoying being alcohol free for a few weeks now. Waiting to see how long it lasts, but so far so good.
She talks really fast in the beginning but otherwise liked the narration.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Andrej
  • 16-01-2021

Good but a bit repetitive

Good book, great performance, but a bit repetitive and lacking structure. Also a bit too emotional, overly dramatic and scarce on the facts.

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  • Nik
  • 01-12-2019

changed my life

phenomenal book and completely changed my understanding about alcohol and relationship with alcohol. a great start if you are questioning your drinking... or not!

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  • D Sencier
  • 18-11-2019

The BEST support you could possibly have!

We are a +3,000 strong alcohol support group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/OYNBPirates/ and we use this book as our main support tool. It's ideal for anyone new to cutting down or giving up on alcohol, which is a journey rather than a one-time event. We can't recommend this book highly enough, Annie Grace is the 'guru' when it comes to this subject!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 04-10-2019

Highly recommend it

If you are questioning your relationship with alcohol, this book is a must listen. There are so many truths in this book, it really opened my eyes. I now look at the world of alcohol with different eyes. Annie has given me the power to stop drinking alcohol without judgement of my friends and family that still do.

I also love a book that is narrated by the author and this book is well delivered.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 01-09-2019

Excellent

Excellent. I got exactly the information I needed to confirm that I have made the right decision to quit as well as continue. I feel like I have the tools to go forth FREE

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  • Sarah Rayner, author
  • 09-09-2018

Promotes ABSTENTION, not CONTROL!

Many have praised this book and with good reason. It’s well researched on the negative impact of drinking, both physically and mentally, so there is a lot about the book that is interesting and illuminating. It's also good at unpicking the failings of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I liked its positivity about living alcohol free.

Unfortunately for me it didn’t deliver as a whole. Firstly, I feel that the title is misleading; ‘control alcohol’ suggests it’s going to help a drinker to moderate intake, but in the end the author advocates giving alcohol up altogether. Because I came to the book as someone who drinks a bit too much but not way too much, hoping it might help reduce my intake from around 25 units a week to 14, I found this irksome. I didn't want to give up drinking and I still don't. Half way through This Naked Mind I realised I was reading a book where the content didn’t match the way it was pitched. Like Annie Grace, I am a writer and for many years worked in marketing, and whilst I can appreciate ‘control alcohol’ will appeal to a broader readership than a ‘give up alcohol’ message, I came away feeling I had been misled.

I also found it jarring that the author describes herself as ‘a moderate drinker’ but says she was drinking ‘two bottles of wine a night’ prior to stopping, which isn’t my definition of ‘moderate’ - far from it! Nor was I convinced that she is a hoot sober. Grace may well be great company and funny (she claims to be both), but here perhaps the book might have benefited from more ‘show’ and less ‘tell’ - as it stands the writing isn't witty. In particular there is no irony and as a Brit I longed for some.

Perhaps most crucially of all, I was not persuaded by the notion of ‘cognitive dissonance’ as a motivation for abstention. As I understand it, the argument is that we are mentally distraught because we know alcohol has many negative effects overall, yet we are still drawn to drinking because we are conditioned to do so. I don’t disagree that western society heavily promotes drink, and I agree that we drink because we believe it is going to relax us and make us feel sexy, witty etc. However for many individuals the relationship with alcohol (as with other drugs) is very complex; it’s frequently used to numb anxiety, depression, grief and so on, and giving up may leave us very exposed other fronts. Being 'naked' all the time mentally is not that easy. Grace touches on these motivations but only lightly, whereas in my experience key to overcoming dependence is tackling these issues too. I’ve lost a partner to alcohol - he could not overcome these demons - and I can’t see that the cognitive dissonance argument is one that would have helped him to stop.

Furthermore, whilst perhaps there is something I failed to grasp, I believe living with cognitive dissonance is part of life. Uncertainty, ambiguity and conflicting responses to people, circumstances, experiences - in fact just about everything - are inevitable - not everything can be ironed out to resolve any sense of incoherence or discomfort. Otherwise it strikes me that we end up with a very black and white world, where anything that doesn’t make sense cognitively is ‘wrong’. Accepting conflicting parts of ourselves seems healthier and more pragmatic; I accept I have conflicting feelings about alcohol, just as I accept that I have conflicting emotions about my mother, my desire for chocolate and pros and cons of driving a car. I even have conflicting feelings about this book - part of me wants to give it 4 stars, part of me 2, so I’ve ended up with a compromise and given it 3!

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142 people found this helpful

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  • Gozo
  • 19-05-2018

Changed me, didn't even know I needed to change.

I downloaded this, my first audible book, because it appeared on a feed on amazon, after I had drank to much yet again on a Friday night, I was bored of this and wanted to give me some tools to make better choices, well, I got better than that.
This book made so much sense I stopped drinking, the book made me questioned why I took this drug, so I stopped. It's like someone told me a something that I didn't know that made so much sense, and now I know I see it from a completely different angle, so why would I do that to me and take this drug that does nothing for me.
POWERFUL STUFF if you are the weekend drinking type, and bored of loosing the next day from tiredness, like me, hopefully this will help.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 16-01-2018

Wow just wow

Felt like drinking was becoming a problem, friend recommended this book, cannot believe the impact it’s had, I’m now 9 days sober with no intention of drinking and this is coming from someone who drunk everyday.

Very powerful a must read if you believe alcohol is becoming a problem.

100% recommended a must read!

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  • Giles
  • 10-01-2020

This is basically a reworded version of Alan Carr’s book..

Wow well that was a shame...

I read Allan Carr’s Easy way first and then this, and it’s almost a complete copy, the analogies, metaphors, layout, even the process is exactly the same.

I can’t be the only one that’s noticed this right?

It reinforces what is highlighted in “The Easy Way” so in that respect it wasn’t a complete waste of money, but if I had paid full price I would’ve been particularly annoyed..

I guess as the saying goes, there is nothing new in this world just rehashed versions of old ideas..

Save your money, either buy this or Allen Carr’s, not both.... you choose

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24 people found this helpful

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  • leanne pereira
  • 25-05-2020

Blatant copy of Allen Carr's Easyway

Great book, it helped me stop drinking, but how the author managed to so blatantly copy Allen Carr's book is beyond me. She even copies his anecdotes, his phrasing, the structure of his book. I mean, she's fleshed his book out, which is fab, but she's completely shameless in her plagiarism!

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  • Russ W
  • 26-08-2019

solid listen and did the trick 👍

A lot like Allen Carr's how to control alcohol, 14 days and dry. exactly what I wanted as you really don't control the stuff it just let's you think it does. sleep and mind 100% better.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 23-10-2018

Unconscious conditioning

Annie just hits the nail on the head.
I have listened to this book whilst partaking in Sober October and am truly amazed by the influence this book has had on me. Annie really does change the way that you view alcohol to the point where you just don't want to drink anymore.

This book in conjunction with Alcohol Lied to me, Craig Beck; has changed my life. I'm so excited about the future and getting my life back.

Thank you Annie! X

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  • a m.
  • 08-07-2019

Plagiarism 101

Seriously, how did someone get away with such obvious plagarism? Its perfectly pleasant to listen to but if you've read "Allen Carrs Easy way to quit alcohol" then you can see shes not offering anything more to the discussion...in actual fact shes totally ripped his work off!

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  • Nicola Pearce
  • 24-04-2020

Basically a redo of Allan Carr

The Naked Mind is nakedly copying Allan Carr’s ‘Easyway To Control Alcohol’. I’m surprised she hasn’t been sued for plagiarism. No doubt this book will help people to quit alcohol, because it utterly copies his method. You might as well just as well go direct to the source and read Allan Carr’s book though. I wish I hadn’t wasted money on this book, as I had already quit thanks to Easyway. I thought this would be more of a drinking memoir or uplifting quotes type book.

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  • Murphy
  • 05-06-2019

This works

This book is incredible. For years I have been hooked on this toxin. (alcohol) started when I was 17 and drank every week till I was 20. Then almost every day. Now at 23 I am finally in control and can do anything I want knowing I am in charge. I can't thank this lady enough. I am a better person mentally and physically

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