Substance Use Quotes

“The very definition of an addictive drug is one that stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, but there are three general axioms in psychopharmacology that also apply to all drugs:

1. All drugs act by changing the rate of what is already going on.

2. All drugs have side effects.

3. The brain adapts to all drugs that affect it by counteracting the drug’s effects.”
― Judith Grisel, Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction

“The incest victim's need for self-punishment often leads her into self-abusive behaviors like alcoholism, drug abuse, or prostitution.”
― Susan Forward, Betrayal of Innocence: Incest and Its Devastation

“While binge drinking is a significant issue, it is likely that many members of the public would be surprised by its categorisation as a mental illness, particularly at the milder end."

Public confusion caused by differing understandings of the term 'mental illness'.
Jorm AF, Reavley NJ.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2012 May;46(5):397-9.
PMID: 22535288”
― Anthony F. Jorm

“Jacob offered Ann pot, this time from a bowl. She shook her head no.
“You gotta keep doing it and eventually it will start to feel good, and your body will adapt,” he encouraged. It was the same thing her mom’s yoga instructor had said to her once and her answer was the same both times.”
― Sage Steadman, Ann, Not Annie

“Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what it would be like to live always at a single, unvarying pitch of sobriety: such a state would probably be indistinguishable from clinical depression.”
― Amitav Ghosh

“And drugs, drugs weren’t the problem. They were the only thing that made the pain quiet. They were routine. Ritual. Language. They gave rhythm to the day. They kept the ghosts at bay. They made it easier to laugh, to cry, to forget. They were the thing we had in common when nothing else made sense.
I didn’t start using because I wanted to destroy myself. I started because I already felt destroyed. Drugs gave me something to belong to. A pattern. A purpose. A pause button on the chaos in my chest. And once it became a lifestyle, it was hard to imagine anything else.”
― Hazel Briar, Whiskey Chaser