174 Quotes About Addiction-and-recovery

You can't move away from your addiction, it will follow you wherever you go.

Spiritual work and psychological work are both necessary to reclaim our true nature. Without psychological strength, spiritual practice can easily become another addictive distraction from reality. Conversely, shorn of a spiritual perspective we are prone to stay stuck in the limited realm of the grasping ego, even if it’s a healthier and more balanced ego.

The strength to sustain recovery can only come from the addict understanding and defining his circle of influence, from recognising that there are factors over which he can exert authority and control, and from taking responsibility for the outcome of his actions. The most effective way in which to regain a sense of internal control is to grasp at a very core level those events and circumstances - and biochemical balances - that caused the loss of control in the first place.

Addicts, in a very general but foundational sense, are constitutionally unable to put themselves first. They have spent their lives avoiding putting themselves first, hiding themselves and their problems behind habitual and destructive behaviours.

Why understanding the purpose of addiction matters: Because it explains why people with addictions are not weaker than people without addiction: people suffering with addictions put up with helplessness just like everyone else as long as it doesn’t involve major issues for them.

With mindful awareness we might still experience judgment arising, but we would accept that as our own problem. When feeling frustrated and angry in response to an uncooperative patient, we would recognize these emotions as our own and understand that we ourselves are fully responsible for how we deal with them.

I couldn’t bear the thought of what drugs could do. I wanted to cry, I felt the anguish, the pain, of all that was alive and suffering right then! How this world was dying, all of us, this lost generation. The Lost Children, The Lost Children, an echo drilled so penetratingly, so pervasively, in my head. I sucked in a breath, and now? I was choking.

Although a plethora of pharmaceutical-industry television commercials and magazine ads would have you believe otherwise, it is talking through the despair - from the mildest sadness to bona fide clinical depression - that is the most helpful way to alleviate and eliminate the root cause of the pain.

Unfortunately, the stress management tool that addicts rely upon is their addiction itself, and in treatment, they need to replace newer, healthier skills to replace these old destructive habits.