Addiction Is The Only Prison Where The Locks Are On The Inside Unknown
What makes addiction so challenging? The disease creates an internal battle that people with substance use disorders struggle with on a constant basis. Many addicts desperately want to stop using drugs and alcohol. At the same time, they struggle with physical and emotional compulsions that lead them to continue. The thing they want to get away from also provides temporary relief from the physical and mental challenges it causes. It can feel like being imprisoned, with your mind and body at war with one another.
This quote highlights the pain of wanting to be free from addiction, but feeling unable to control the urge to abuse substances. Of course, no one chooses to be addicted to drugs or alcohol. For many, dependence develops as a coping mechanism that allows users to numb their negative feelings and escape traumatic memories temporarily. When they stop using, these feelings and symptoms of conditions like PTSD may return. So, despite the many negative consequences, addicts and alcoholics can feel trapped, believing they need substances to cope with their underlying conditions. This is one way that the addict part of the mind distorts a persons thinking. Treatment programs like Liberty Ranchs helps participants manage and address their underlying conditions in healthier, more productive ways. Moreover, treatment helps clients deconstruct current ways of thinking and learn healthier ways to respond to difficulties, while providing structure and support.
Words Of Encouragement For Sobriety & Recovering From Addiction
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Words like sobriety and addiction tend to conjure up extreme images, like people slumped in dark alleys or staggering around yelling and throwing bottles. So it can be surprising for some to realize how common and how diverse addictions are.
A survey of all the different ways we can get hooked into destructive living uncovers a difficult truth any of us can get addicted, and many of us are. While most of us dont hang out in dark alleys or throw glass objects on a regular basis, a large number of us are struggling.
What You Will Learn
My Past Has No Power Over Me
The things that happened in the past are meaningless now. Its important to look toward the future.
Too often, life will deal a series of unfortunate events. Unfortunately, many find relief from difficult situations by self-medicating, but it doesnt have to be that way. Your addiction might be rooted in traumatic memories that have led you to believe that substance abuse is the only method of coping. No matter what happened in your past, it doesnt define you. The important thing is to remind yourself that you still have plenty of life to look forward to. These powerful positive recovery words will support you as you work to untangle yourself from the unrelenting grips of addiction. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of building resiliency as you find the tools to navigate mental health and self-love.
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Love & Addiction Quotes On Understanding Addiction
Sometimes when things are hard, a few small words can help get you and your loved one get through a difficult day. Whether or not the author knew these quotes would be applied to addiction and love, their wise words carry insight for those struggling. If you or your significant other struggles with addiction, these love and addiction quotes will help you better understand addiction, motivate change and inspire you to seek help.
What Role Do Family Members Play In Recovery

Addiction doesnt just affect individuals addiction is a family affliction. The uncertainty of a persons behavior tests family bonds, creates considerable shame, and give rise to great amounts of anxiety. Because families are interactive systems, everyone is affected, usually in ways they are not even aware of. When a person goes into treatment, it isnt just a case of fixing the problem person. The change destabilizes the adaptation the family has madeand while the person in recovery is learning to do things differently, so must the rest of the family learn to do things differently. Otherwise, their behavior is at risk of cementing the problem in place.
For starters, family members need to learn what the risk factors for addiction are and the internal and external struggles an individual faces in recovering from addiction, and they need to understand their own complex emotional reactions to the entire experience. Because recovery involves growth, families need to learn and practice new patterns of interaction.
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How Can I Get Over The Guilt And Shame About The Things I Done
Guilt refers to feels of responsibility or remorse for actions that negatively affect others shame relates to deeply painful feelings of self-unworthiness, reflecting the belief that one is inherently flawed in some way. Shame is an especially powerful negative feeling that can both invite addiction in the first place and result from it. Either way, it often keeps people trapped in addictive behaviors. It gets in the way of recovery, self-acceptance, and accessing help when needed.
It is possible to overcome shameby driving right through it. Shame diminishes as recovery proceeds. Neuroscientist Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., who himself recovered from addiction, outlines five steps.
1. Identify key past events that gave rise to negative beliefs about yourself.
2. Identify personal strengths as well as weaknesses.
3. Identify other factors in your liferelationships, workthat can help take the focus off addictive behaviors.
4. Shift perspective to see relapse and other failures as opportunities to learn.
5. Choose to get help, even though shame often deters people from doing so.
Inspirational Quotes To Help Overcome Drug Or Alcohol Addiction
Sometimes, the right words can supply us with the inspiration and strength we desperately need. And lets be honest, inspiration and strength are two vital ingredients for anyone whos considering sobriety.
On a personal level, I know inspirational quotes and phrases have given me strength in the past especially when I was at my lowest. Those same quotes and phrases have also helped me make the right decisions when I was contemplating major changes in my life.
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Im Becoming A Better Version Of Myself Every Day
Each day that you go without drinking or using drugs, youre working toward maximizing your potential as a person.
This is a particularly helpful anti-relapse/non-drinking affirmation. When you first get out of rehab, after all, the temptation to go right back to using is a strong one. By reminding yourself that you may the choice to get clean for a reason and that its having a positive effect on your life, youll be far less likely to slip up.
Recovery And Addiction Quotes To Uplift You
86. Everything youve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. George Addair
87. Courage isnt having the strength to go on its going on when you dont have strength. Napoleon Bonaparte
88. We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken. John Green
89. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Dr. Seuss
90. Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending. Chico Xavier
91. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius
92. The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the person perfected without trials. Chinese proverb
If youre enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of diamond quotes about the power of long lasting beauty.
93. Take time to deliberate but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. Napoleon Bonaparte
94. You have to break down before you can break through.
95. People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them. George Bernard Shaw
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The Way To Measure Your Progress Is Backward Against Where You Started Not Against Your Ideal Dan Sullivan The Gain And The Gap
A pitfall that many struggle with while in recovery is feeling like they are not where they want to be. However, addiction cannot be solved in one day and becoming sober is just one step in the recovery process. The urge to simply get better can create feelings of shame, hopelessness, and even result in dry drunk syndrome or a relapse. Some even begin to resent others who dont struggle with addiction. It is easy to focus on what you havent achieved or how far from your goal you are. But rather than judge yourself for a lack of progress, think about how far you have come.
Comparing ones progress in recovery to that of others will only distract you from improving your life. Make an effort to congratulate yourself and recognize your progress. Or, if your loved one is in recovery, support them by letting them know how proud you are of their bravery and progress. Try and recognize their accomplishments, no matter how small rather than focus on the negative. Sometimes a few positive words can go a long way.
Popular Quotes About Recovery
Use this list of drug addiction quotes about beating substance abuse to motivate you to continue your recovery journey and stay drug-free.
Inspirational Recovery Quotes / Drug Addiction Quotes 6-20
Get Your Life Back
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At What Point Is Someone Considered Recovered From Addiction
There are no lab tests that define recovery and no universally agreed-on definition of recovery. For many experts, the key components of addictive disorder are compulsive drug use that continues despite detrimental consequences, and the development of cravings with the inability to control use. Addiction develops over time, in response to repeated substance use, as the action of drugs changes the way the brain responds to rewards and disables the ability to control desire for the drug.
Under all circumstances, recovery takes time because it is a process in which brain cells gradually recover the capacity to respond to natural sources of reward and restore control over the impulse to use. Another widely applied benchmark of recovery is the cessation of negative effects on oneself or any aspect of life. Many definitions of recovery include not only the return to personal health but participation in the roles and responsibilities of society.
Subscribers to the disease model of addiction generally believe that recovery extends well beyond any benchmarks to be a lifelong process. Nevertheless, data show that five years after substance use is stopped, the risk for relapse is no greater than for anyone else in the general population.
Powerful Inspirationaldrug Addiction Quotes

Motivational recovery quotes and drug addiction quotes can save someone from the temptation of going down the road to relapse. Recovery quotes reinforce and inspire people to stay on their journey to better their lives and families by staying sober. Many drug addiction quotes can encourage you to believe in yourself and the power you hold to improve your life.
Drug addiction recovery is a challenging experience. Fortunately, many resources are available to help you along the way. Some of these can inspire, and others, well, lets say they let you look at your situation with humor. Hopefully, a quote about addiction recovery can help you maintain your commitment to your sobriety. This post consists of more than 200 quotes about drug addiction, from quotes about loving someone with an addiction to funny quotes about addiction, to Bible quotes about addiction, and many more.
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Find Motivation And Inspiration For Your Addiction Recovery Journey With The Following Quotes
Starting and staying on the road to recovery can be a challenge. An addiction to drugs or alcohol is not easily overcome and recovery often requires constant vigilance as you practice and strengthen the coping skills you learned in treatment.
One important strategy for your recovery toolbox is inspiration. Sometimes, a simple saying or quote is all it takes to clarify an idea or get back on track after a bump in the road. Here are twenty quotes that can help inspire your addiction recovery journey.
As A Recovering Addict You May Have Encountered Days That Seemed Rougher Than Others
When dealing with highs and lows in sobriety, many turn to inspirational recovery quotes as a source of strength. These 10 inspirational quotes for recovering addicts may renew your motivation to stay drug and alcohol free.Reading quotes can provide you with a boost of inspiration and help prevent relapse after drug and alcohol treatment. If you are a recovering addict, take a look at the following quotes below. Their uplifting messages might help keep you on your path to sobriety.
Recovery is hard. Regret is harder. Brittany Burgunder
The greatest mistake to make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one. -Elbert Hubbard
Great acts are made up of small deeds. -Lao Tzu
Dont let the past steal your present. Terri Guillemets
Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising up every time we fall.– Oliver Goldsmith
Courage isnt having the strength to go on it is going on when you have no strength. Napoleon Bonaparte
If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime. Benjamin Alire Saenz
It Does Not Matter How Slowly You Go as Long As You Do Not Stop. Confucius
When your past calls, dont answer. It has nothing new to say.
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Ralph Waldo Emerson
If youre looking to get started on your journey to sobriety, give us a call now:
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Recovery And Addiction Quotes To Make You Strong
51. Were all addicted to something that takes away the pain. Boys Like Girls
52. Recovery is taking all twelve stepsover and over and over and over Toni Sorenson
53. We should be open to change to ensure that our addiction to life always remains under check. Dr. Prem Jagyasi
54. One thing you must realize is that: you either kill your addiction or your addiction will eventually kill you. Oche Otorkpa
55. There are people who are addicted to sadness the way others are addicted to coffee or cigarettes.
56. Addiction denied is recovery delayed. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
57. Its okay to bleed on someone who didnt cut you. Dont wait until youre scarred over to ask for help. Healing starts when the wound is still new. Toni Sorenson
58. Just because something is familiar, doesnt mean its safe. And just because something feels safe, doesnt mean its good for you. Brittany Burgunder
59. The Power to redefine your life and purpose is in your hands, use it effectively like a wise person. Oche Otorkpa
60. If today is your past come tomorrow, then make your past your future of today. Darrel Loyd
61. Addiction brings apathy. Break the apathy, and you break the addiction. Mango Wodzak
62. Addiction is a repeated temporarystilling. I am concerned with peacenot mere relief. Edward Albee
63. Your addiction is not you, but it feels like you because youve spent so much intimate time together. Toni Sorenson
Resentment Is Like Drinking Poison And Waiting For The Other One To Die
Holding onto a grudge can be one of the biggest hindrances in recovery. Not only does this behavior benefit no one, but it puts an enormous strain on the person carrying around this burden.
It takes a significant amount of mental and emotional energy to maintain the hostility needed to support a grudge, so all that happens is that we end up treading water, filling our head space with negativity. Harboring resentment, then, prevents us from moving on with our lives and focusing on whats really important our sobriety.
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Quotes For People Fighting Addiction:
- You know youre an alcoholic when you misplace things like a decade. Paul Williams
- The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope. Russell Brand
- Addiction is the only prison where the locks are on the inside. Unknown
- Drugs take you to hell, disguised as heaven. Donald Lyn Frost
- Addiction: the disease that makes you too selfish to see the havoc that you created or care about the people whose lives you shattered. Unknown