Denial Among Drug Addicts And Alcoholics

Denial is a term that is often associated with people who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol

. This is because the disease of addiction has a built-in survival mechanism called denial that helps to keep the chemical dependence alive and active despite severe and sometime obvious consequences. In fact, the very nature of denial in addiction actually serves to "fool" the addict or alcoholic into believing that the problem is not severe enough to warrant action such as treatment, or that the problems doesn't exist at all. In some cases denial can even cause a person who is aware of the full scope of their drug or alcohol problem to do nothing about it. Understanding how denial works is critical to spot it early and help a person get treatment.

Denial doesn't have to include outright lies it can be as subtle as omissions of the truth, exaggerations, distortions or other forms of denying that a drug problem exists, or denying its severity. Addicts might deny this problem to the people who are close to them, and they are likely to deny the problem to themselves as well. Addicts might hide or lie about how much they use and when, what types of drugs they are using, who they are suing them with and so on.

Most denial seems readily apparent as expressed by statement and sentiments such as: "I don't drink that much," "I don't need help," "The problem isn't that bad," "I can stop whenever I want to," "I'm just using/drinking because of XYZ," and many other types of thinking that denies the true state of the problem. But despite the fact that statements like these might seem like classic forms of denial, it can be difficult to determine just how bad someone's drug or alcohol problem really is because of their level of denial.

It is denial that forces many people to conduct an intervention when someone they love is using drugs. Denial can be so powerful that it can forced a person to continue using even when evidence of the severity of the problem has been presented to them repeatedly often by people they trust. Interventions work by attempting to force the addict to pay attention to the people who care about them long enough to see outside of their own denial and make a decision to get treatment before it's too late.

Once an addict or alcoholic has entered treatment, denial management will be made a large part of the recovery process. Denial will be uncovered and addressed using various evidence-based practices including psychotherapy, reality therapy, individual therapy and group and family therapy. In cases where underlying triggers and conditions such as bipolar disorder or depression, the level of denial experienced by the recovering addict may be lessened when an underlying cause is treated.

Denial management must be made an integral part of a lifetime recovery plan. This is because the disease of addiction is not curable and at various times during recovery a person may be tempted to use again or actually relapse. Because denial can help create an environment where relapse is excusable, recovering addicts must take a daily personal inventory and examine the denial in their life.

If you or someone you love has been suffering from a drug or drinking problem, please get help now by using one of the links below:

by: Darian Mullhalland

POST COMMENT

Pay Per Click Management Services You Shouldnt Diy And Why The Extremely Thin Air Phone - A Look At The Features And Performance On The Sleekest Iclone Yet Car Insurance Quotes And Deductibles Rustic Copper Outdoor Lighting Provides Greater Protection And Appeal To Any Home Elder Care Residents And Elder Care Providers The Moncler Clothes Has Fashionable And Practical Function In Winter The Moncler Jackets And Its Realm Coorg : Nature, Culture And A Dash Of Cinnamon! Spend More Time In Barcelona, And Less Money Why Whiteboard Presentations Save Headaches, Time And Money Phuket Resort And Spa - Fantastic Sand And The Breath-taking Views How Whiteboard Selling Skills Get Better And Faster Results Two Apple Patent For Solar Cells And Piezoelectric Sensors