quotations about addiction
It's time we recognize as a nation that for too long, we have had a quiet epidemic on our hands. Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing -- and we must treat it as such.
HILLARY CLINTON
"How we can win the fight against substance abuse", New Hampshire Union Leader, September 1, 2015
Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and circuity. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, physiological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance and other behaviors.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ADDICTION MEDICINE
"Addiction is not a moral failing", The Crimson White, January 16, 2017
Professionals call addiction a "disease" and tell addicts to do this or that hoping to remove the addiction externally. I know from experience through receiving counseling over the years in which I committed alcohol or drug-related crimes. I just agreed with the counselors and kept doing what made me happy because I did not know anything different. My best friend from high school became an addict, overdosed and died after he received a master's degree in drug counseling.
JEFF CLINE
"Addiction is internal disease", Tribune Chronicle, January 24, 2017
The impulsive system can be thought of as a car's accelerator, while the inhibitory system can be likened to a brake. In addictions, there is very strong acceleration associated with the impulsive system often coupled with a malfunctioning inhibitory system.
OFIR TUREL
"A Facebook addiction is like a cocaine addiction, study says", Fox 25 WFXT, February 20, 2016
Clearly, current protocols and modalities are not working for a majority of addicts who complete initial treatment. It's time we faced the fact that addiction is a disease that often requires long-term, sometimes lifetime care. Relying on short-term recovery models alone has not worked, and will not curb the epidemic of addiction.
ROBERT J. BUDSOCK
"Progress on addiction treatment front", Park Press, February 26, 2016
Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed successfully. And as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal treatment failure--rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated or adjusted or that an alternative treatment is needed to help the individual regain control and recover.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
"DrugFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction"
Addiction is more malleable than you know. When people come to me for therapy, they often ask me whether their behavior constitutes a real addiction (or whether they are really alcoholic, etc.). My answer is that this is not the important question. The important questions are how many problems is the involvement causing you, how much do you want to change it, and how can we go about change?
STANTON PEELE
7 Tools to Beat Addiction
If addiction to drugs is a result of a susceptibility caused by trauma and misery, then the way to address addiction isn't through stigmatisation and the criminal justice system. It is through kindness, understanding, and treating the underlying psychological issues.
MICHAEL BRULL
"Chasing The Scream Review Part II: Addiction isn't about your brain, it's about your cage and your trauma", New Matilda, March 2, 2016
It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.
JEAN COCTEAU
Opium
The core of addiction doesn't lie in what you swallow or inject--it's in the pain you feel in your head.
JOHANN HARI
Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs
Addiction knows no bounds and those who are suffering are our neighbors, friends, and children.
NICOLE HARTER
"Addiction is a disease, not a crime", The MetroWest Daily News, February 15, 2016
A good rule-of-thumb for determining the difference between a compulsion and an addiction is that addictions are experienced more as a source of pleasure than guilt while compulsions are experienced as more a source of guilt than pleasure.
DR. GREG
"Why Porn Is NOT An Addiction (Part Deux) and Why That Matters For Your Healing", Patheos, February 18, 2016
The drivenness in any addiction is about the ruptured self, the belief that one is flawed as a person. The content of the addiction, whether it is alcoholism or work, is an attempt at an intimate relationship. The workaholic with her work or the alcoholic with his booze are having a love affair. Each alters mood to avoid the feeling of loneliness and hurt in the underbelly of shame.
JOHN BRADSHAW
Healing the Shame that Binds You
In the 21st century, in the best country in the world, we need to help those who fall down to get back up, not keep kicking them while they are down. Being addicted to a substance is tough enough, let's change our collective consciousness and lend a hand to those in need. Let's give them the option of rehabilitation without incarceration first.
MARK COLVIN
"Suggestions to Cure Crowded Jails", The Missourian, January 24, 2017
Addiction is not a chemical reaction--addiction is an experience, one which grows out of an individual's subjective response to something that has special meaning for him, from which he seeks safety that nothing else provides.
ARCHIE BRODSKY
Love and Addiction