23 Recovering Addicts Share The One Thing They Wish People Understood About Their Addictions

"It’s deeper than any substances."

Updated 9 years ago, April 27, 2016

1.

“Addiction isn’t a choice; it’s a disease.”

— Sandra Bitting

2.

“I wish people saw the time that addicts spent alone. Thinking about everything they’ve done, every time they’ve lied and stole. I wish they knew what that guilt felt like.”

— Thad Knisely

3.

“Just because I am/was an addict, doesn’t make me a bad person. Deep down inside we are wonderful, loving people.”

— Shelly Rice Garcia

4.

“People that suffer from addiction do not choose to be that way, nor do they have to let it define them.”

— Teresa Taylor

5.

“Until you have loved someone who abuses substances, don’t judge the family’s choices…the line between enabling and supporting is blurry.”

— Tanya Stanley

6.

“It’s not necessarily because the parent was a bad parent, or the child is a bad person.”

— Amy Talcott Kennard

7.

“The only thing that’s as hard as being a recovering addict, is loving a recovering addict.”

— Dewayne Passmore

8.

“Honestly, most addicts take many attempts to stay clean. It is not a failure. It is a journey. Every relapse is a lesson!”

— Melissa Shoemaker Pigliavento

9.

“Addiction is so much more common and pervasive of an issue than society thinks.”

— Sarah Hollowell

10.

“I am me; I am not just my addiction. There is a lot of other stuff to love.”

— Ryan Sachse

11.

“It’s not a matter of willpower or a lack of a moral compass.”

— Brian Lewis

12.

“I am not the face of my addiction.”

— Roxanne Loge

13.

“My addiction does not define who I am or who I will be!”

— Lisa Renee Barnes Lampros

14.

“We do recover.”

— Jennifer Jones

15.

“The opposite of addiction is connection.”

— Nick Warren

16.

“I wish people would not judge others… some have no idea what is going on in their lives.”

— Sarah Kelly Wish

17.

“The public needs more education on addiction. People need to know how it starts, what it does to every aspect of your life, how to get or give help to an addict, and what recovery is like for an addict.”

— Ray Peters

18.

“It’s deeper than any substances.”

— Roe Brown

19.

“That a lot of addicts/alcoholics are the most sensitive, caring and intelligent people you’ll ever meet. And a lot of “normal” money making, security hungry people are empty on the inside.”

— Haley Pharis

20.

“Sometimes you honestly don’t realize what you’re doing, and who you’re hurting, until you’re looking back months later. I wish people could understand the suffocating guilt.”

— Kaylee Jane Komine