Meet My Shadow

Addiction is real. The fate of broken lives as a result of addiction is real. Rock bottom is real. Death is real. Freedom is real. Faith and recovery are real. In this memoir, author Luke Tougas details his real struggle with addiction. Tougas, a five-year psychology major, finds himself caught in the vicious cycle of alcoholism. Ashamed and distraught, he attempts to heal himself without anyone knowing of his addiction. Meet My Shadow follows Tougas as he sees a psychiatrist where he puts on a mask and pays to lie. He tells of meeting his first love and breaking her heart. And he tells of failure after failure of self-help methods and finding himself at rock bottom. Tougas writes about laying defeated on the bathroom floor facing two choices: keeping his secret, dropping out of school, losing his job, and watching his life fade, or revealing his secret, admitting defeat, and seeking guidance from the only ones who can help him-Alcoholics Anonymous. Meet My Shadow captures the in-depth effects and struggles of addiction. It follows Tougas on his journey from self-torture and despair to conquering his alcohol addiction with courage.

Luke Tougas earned a Bachelor of Arts Co-op Degree at the University of Alberta and will attend graduate school with the goal of pursuing a career in child psychology, working with families affected by autism. A recovering alcoholic, he lives a quiet life in Alberta, Canada.