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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker avoided hard drugs but used alcohol to numb emotional pain and cope with reality.
In plain terms
I didn't use hard drugs but drank to feel nothing about my problems.
What can you take from it?
Numbing pain with substances often fails to solve the underlying issues.

Where it applies

  • stress management
  • grief
  • emotional overwhelm

Putting it to work

  • acknowledge emotions
  • avoid substance reliance

Questions to consider

  • How do you cope with stress?
  • Is numbness a valid solution?

Another view

It minimizes the severity of alcohol dependence as a coping mechanism.

More from Johnny Depp

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  2. Family and friends sat me down and said, 'Listen, we love you. You're important to us, and you're fucking up. You're killing yourself. You're killing us in the…

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  3. [I did] mostly alcohol. There were drugs, too - pills - and there was a danger that I would go over the edge. I could have. I thank God I didn't. (2004)

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