ADDICTION

Definition of Addiction:
The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity.

Synonyms of Addiction:
Dependency, dependence, craving, habit, compulsion, fixation, enslavement, etc.

These notes are from recovery in AA and/or related 12 step programs.
Readers are encouraged to click the external link for more detail.
We hope you find them helpful.

Love in fellowship.

None of us ever wanted to be addicts. The truth is, we’re all handicapped in some way.
Recovery is about facing our addiction and learning to live with it. –Keep It Simple/Anonymous | More…

The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defence against the first drink.
His defense must come from a Higher Power. –Big Book p.43 | More…

We discarded our misconceptions about addiction, only to come up with another: the idea that addiction was about drugs.
We may have thought addiction meant a physical habit, believing any drug that didn’t produce physical habituation was not “addictive.” 

One of the most important lessons we learn in The Program is that addiction is much more than the alcohol and/or drugs we used. Addiction is a part of us; it’s an illness that involves every area of our lives, with or without alcohol or drugs. Because of this, we need a solution that works to repair every area of our lives: the Twelve Steps. Just for today 14/12 | More…

We were convinced we were unworthy, inadequate, afraid, and lonely whenever we compared ourselves to others. We disconnected and isolated ourselves, not only from our peers, but also from our own real selves.  We lived in a world of fantasy.

Our problem was more than a physical need for the alcohol that made us dependent. It was also not dealing with crazy thinking, self-defeating behavior, and screwed-up emotions. –Easy Does It | More…

The addict is not a bad person. He’s a sick person.
When addiction scooped him up, it did so indiscriminately

 Before he was an addict, I used to judge the dusty addict on the corner very harshly.
Now I know that being an addict isn’t something anyone would choose.

 I wish I hadn’t waited for the worst to happen before I opened my eyes and heart.
Before I looked beyond the addict’s dust to the person he was meant to and could easily become –Tending Dandelions | More…

 

At meetings, we see how different people work their program, and the results are apparent in their lives. If we want the lives we see others living, we can find out what they’ve done to get where they are. Narcotics Anonymous meetings offer us identification with where we’ve been and where we can go — identification we can’t do without and can’t get anywhere else. That keeps us coming back. –Just For Today | More…