Patrick J. Kennedy Quotes

Addiction is a neurological disease—a disease of the brain…. No one wakes up in the morning and says today ‘I want to become an addict.’

I didn't check into rehab. Instead of me heading into a place - I was just drinking too much and I needed to get my life together. I'm still in therapy and stuff like that, but it's good. I'm great. I feel fine.

The alcoholic suffers from a disease.

I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it.

We have all learned that addiction and mental illnesses are illnesses, and I think a lot of people overlook that it is a chemical imbalance; it's like cancer, a sickness, and people need to see it as that.

The road to sobriety is not easy and rehabilitation and the recovery process are not to be taken lightly.

Having this message of sobriety and recovery to blast out into the world is also very powerful and kind of the reason why I'm on this planet, I think; it's one of my purposes.

When I cleaned up some 17 odd years ago, I felt terrible for about six months. The only thing that gave me any real relief was strenuous physical activity.

My mother is still battling alcoholism.

I'm a recovering alcoholic so I should be home.

I'll say that I don't think you can throw a stone and not come in contact with someone who knows someone or has problems with substance abuse.

I tried to give up drugs by drinking.

I am a recovering alcoholic.

I had to accept that I was an alcoholic, that was the main thing. I think you've got to. But I try not say that I'm an alcoholic. I prefer to say that it's a disease I've got.

I can choose to accelerate my disease to an alcoholic death or incurable insanity, or I can choose to live within my thoroughly human condition.

I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it. I always went to people who knew more than I did.

I do not live in the world of sobriety.

The society focuses on the addict, and its impact on our quality of life, but we don't focus on people who are rehabilitated and in recovery.

Well, I’ll never have to talk about crap like dope addiction again.

He’s sick. He’s got an addiction. He’s sick. He’s get a sexual addiction. He needs help.

Addicts are hard workers.

If you don't know someone who's had a problem with addiction, you will.

I trust my recovering peers completely. I'll occasionally look sideways at them because they're addicts but it would break my heart and surprise me to find out that any of these people were lying. Still, addiction is cunning and baffling and you never know.

There isn't just one way to get healthy and sober and to stop using.

I've been in a treatment center for drinkin'. I stayed for two days, then escaped.