ADDICTIONS

1. I speak specifically of choices that have led to excessive debt and addictions to
food, drugs, pornography, and other patterns of thought and action that diminish
ones sense of self-worth. All of these excesses affect us individually and undermine
our family relationships. . . for both debt and addiction, the hopeful solution is the
samewe must turn to the Lord and follow His commandments. We must want
more than anything else to change our lives so that we can break the cycle of debt
and our uncontrolled wants.
Robert D. Hales, Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually, April 4,
2009 General Conference, Saturday Morning Session.

2. Remember, brothers and sisters, any kind of addiction is to surrender to

something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent. Thus, video-
gaming and texting on cell phones need to be added to the list. . . Medical research
describes addiction as a disease of the brain. This is true, but I believe that once
Satan has someone in his grasp, it also becomes a disease of the spirit. But no
matter what addictive cycle one is caught in, there is always hope. . . there is hope
because God loves all of His children and because the Atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ makes all things possible.
M. Russell Ballard, O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One, October 2010 General
Conference, Sunday Afternoon Session.

3. Addictions often begin subtly. Addictions are thin threads of repeated action that
weave themselves into thick bonds of habit. Negative habits have the potential to
become consuming addictions. These binding chains of addiction can have many
forms, like pornography, alcohol, sex, drugs, tobacco, gambling, food, work, the
Internet, or virtual reality. Satan, our common enemy, has many favorite tools he
uses to rob us of our divine potential to accomplish our mission in the Lords
kingdom. . . We are not meant to be shackled to the earth, imprisoned in
straitjackets of our own making. . . The first thing we must understand is that
addictions are so much easier to prevent than to cure. . . The best defense against
addiction is never to start.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Are You Sleeping Through the Restoration? April 2014
General Conference, Priesthood Session.

4. In our day, the dreadful influence of pornography is like unto a plague sweeping
across the world, infecting one here and one there, relentlessly trying to invade
every home, most frequently through the husband and father. The effect of this
plague can be, unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. . . Pornography will always
repel the Spirit of Christ and will interrupt the communications between our
Heavenly Father and His children and disrupt the tender relationship between
husband and wife. The priesthood holds consummate power. It can protect you
from the plague of pornographyand it is a plagueif you are succumbing to its
influence. If one is obedient, the priesthood can show how to break a habit and even
erase an addiction. Holders of the priesthood have that authority and should employ
it to combat evil influences.
 Boyd K. Packer, Cleansing the Inner Vessel, October 2010 General Conference,
Sunday Morning Session.

5. We cannot allow ourselves the slightest bit of leeway in dealing with sin. We cannot
allow ourselves to believe that we can participate just a little in disobeying the
commandments of God, for the sin can grab us with an iron hand from which it is
excruciatingly painful to free ourselves. The addictions which can come from drugs,
alcohol, pornography, and immorality are real and are nearly impossible to break
without great struggle and much help.
President Thomas S. Monson, Keep the Commandments, October 2015 General
Conference, General Priesthood Session.

6. In seeking to overcome debt and addictive behaviors, we should remember that

addiction is the craving of the natural man, and it can never be satisfied. It is an
insatiable appetite. When we are addicted, we seek those worldly possessions or
physical pleasures that seem to entice us. But as children of God, our deepest
hunger and what we should be seeking is what the Lord alone can provideHis
love, His sense of worth, His security, His confidence, His hope in the future, and
assurance of His love, which brings us eternal joy. We must want, more than
anything else, to do our Heavenly Fathers will and providently provide for ourselves
and others. . . Only through our Lords Atonement can we obtain a mighty change of
heart and experience a mighty change in our addictive behavior.
Robert D. Hales, Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually, April 4,
2009 General Conference, Saturday Morning Session.

7. Every soul confined in a prison of sin, guilt, or perversion has a key to the gate.
The key is labeled repentance. If you know how to use this key, the adversary
cannot hold you. The twin principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in
strength the awesome power of the tempter. If you are bound by a habit or an
addiction that is unworthy, you must stop conduct that is harmful. Angels will coach
you, and priesthood leaders will guide you through those difficult times. . .
Priesthood holders carry with them the antidote to remove the terrible images of
pornography and to wash away guilt. The priesthood has the power to unlock the
influence of our habits, even to unchain from addiction, however tight the grip. It
can heal over the scars of past mistakes.
Boyd K. Packer, Cleansing the Inner Vessel, October 2010 General Conference,
Sunday Morning Session.

8. Personal circumstances vary greatly. We cannot control and we are not responsible
for the choices of others, even when they impact us so painfully. I am sure the Lord
loves and blesses husbands and wives who lovingly try to help spouses struggling
with such deep problems as pornography or other addictive behavior or with the
long-term consequences of childhood abuse. Whatever the outcome and no matter
how difficult your experiences, you have the promise that you will not be denied the
blessings of eternal family relationships if you love the Lord, keep His
commandments, and just do the best you can.
Dallin H. Oaks, Divorce, April 2007 General Conference, Sunday morning session.
9. A pivotal spiritual attribute is that of self-masterythe strength to place reason
over appetite. Self-mastery builds a strong conscience. And your conscience
determines your moral responses in difficult, tempting, and trying situations. Fasting
helps your spirit to develop dominance over your physical appetites. Fasting also
increases your access to heavens help, as it intensifies your prayers. Why the need
for self-mastery? God implanted strong appetites within us for nourishment and
love, vital for the human family to be perpetuated. When we master our appetites
within the bounds of Gods laws, we can enjoy longer life, greater love, and
consummate joy. It is not surprising, then, that most temptations to stray from
Gods plan of happiness come through the misuse of those essential, God-given
appetites. Controlling our appetites is not always easy. Not one of us manages them
perfectly. Mistakes happen. Errors are made. Sins are committed. What can we do
then? We can learn from them. And we can truly repent. . . A strong human spirit
with control over appetites of the flesh is master over emotions and passions and
not a slave to them. That kind of freedom is as vital to the spirit as oxygen is to the
body! Freedom from self-slavery is true liberation!
Russell M. Nelson, Decisions for Eternity, October 2013 General Conference,
Sunday afternoon session.

10.Pornographic or erotic stories and pictures are worse than filthy or polluted food.
The body has defenses to rid itself of unwholesome food. With a few fatal
exceptions, bad food will only make you sick but do no permanent harm. In contrast,
a person who feasts upon filthy stories or pornographic or erotic pictures and
literature records them in this marvelous retrieval system we call a brain. The brain
wont vomit back filth. Once recorded, it will always remain subject to recall,
flashing its perverted images across your mind and drawing you away from the
wholesome things in life.
Dallin H. Oaks, Challenges for the Year Ahead (pamphlet, 1974), 45; reprinted in
Things Theyre Saying, New Era, Feb. 1974, 18.

11.Some involved in pornography apparently minimize its seriousness and continue to

exercise the priesthood of God because they think no one will know of their
involvement. But the user knows, brethren, and so does the Lord. . . Those who seek
out and use pornography forfeit the power of their priesthood. . . Patrons of
pornography also lose the companionship of the Spirit. Pornography produces
fantasies that destroy spirituality.
Dallin H. Oaks, Pornography, April 2005 General Conference, Sunday afternoon
session.

12.Pornography impairs ones ability to enjoy a normal emotional, romantic, and

spiritual relationship with a person of the opposite sex. It erodes the moral barriers
that stand against inappropriate, abnormal, or illegal behavior. As conscience is
desensitized, patrons of pornography are led to act out what they have witnessed,
regardless of its effects on their life and the lives of others. Pornography is also
addictive. It impairs decision-making capacities and it hooks its users, drawing
them back obsessively for more and more. . . Some seek to justify their indulgence
by arguing that they are only viewing soft, not hard, porn. A wise bishop called
this refusing to see evil as evil. He quoted men seeking to justify their viewing
choices by comparisons such as not as bad as or only one bad scene. But the
test of what is evil is not its degree but its effect. When persons entertain evil
thoughts long enough for the Spirit to withdraw, they lose their spiritual protection
and they are subject to the power and direction of the evil one. When they use
Internet or other pornography for what this bishop described as arousal on
demand (letter of Mar. 13, 2005), they are deeply soiled by sin. . . But the good
news is that no one needs to follow the evil, downward descent to torment.
Everyone caught on that terrible escalator has the key to reverse his course. He can
escape. Through repentance he can be clean.
Dallin H. Oaks, Pornography, April 2005 General Conference, Sunday afternoon
session.