Addiction and the Consequences of Denial

Denial is weakness and stupidity, especially when it comes to addiction. Denial is a state where you refuse to accept the reality because of the fear of coping up. In this state, you not only deny the real problem, but also compare yourself with others to feel good or keep blaming others for your misdeeds. Whether it’s about gambling or alcohol or addiction, denial is a powerful tool to help keep you going with your habits.

In people struggling with addictive behaviours, denial is a common trait. As denial allows them to make the reality more flattering, they do not want to accept that they are struggling with alcohol, drugs or gambling. Addiction can also be a reason for terrible shame, self-hatred, and low self-esteem. For an addict, it can be overwhelming to accept the kind of harm their addiction had made to themselves and others around them. They often continue to abuse substances in cases of guilt to escape their fears of inadequacy and unworthiness. Users often report a sudden dissociation from themselves in substance abuse. For example, alcohol and heroin are often sought for the required numbness.

The process of denial makes addicts resort to various unhelpful behaviours including the following:

Minimising

Addicts tend to minimise the concerns of near and dear ones when they bring up the topic of addiction by blowing things out of proportion and supporting their habits by saying that it’s not a big deal or trying to prove themselves better than others. This is basically a coping mechanism to delay confronting the truth. While in the act of minimising, the addicts try to put family or friends through a guilt ride in order to escape action.

Rationalising

Rationalising is that part of denial where the addicts try to validate their addictive behaviours with irrational excuses such as being hurt or stressed up or needing to give company to their pals or overcoming a loss. They refuse to accept the fact that each of us go through stress and loss at various periods of our lives and it’s just part of the game. Once the addicts start rationalising their addictive deeds, they find opportunities on every other alternative day to maintain their addictions. 

Self-deception

Self deception is an addict’s state of mind, where despite obvious negative consequences on the family life, social life and the health of the addict, the addict keeps thinking that everything is alright and issues are not as bad or as severe as they really are.

From health issues to harmed relationships, denial can wreak havoc on an addict’s life. The duration of denial varies from person to person. For some, it may last for weeks while for some others it may last for months or years at end. The greater the duration, the longer the treatment process and the higher the risk of relapse. They say that addicts with persistent denial should hit the rock bottom before they could cope with the reality of their addiction. However, with the awareness of friends and family, medical intervention could start well before the person reaches the state of despair.

How can you overcome denial?

An addict in denial can be talked into acceptance: It’s not an easy task to talk to an addict about his/her addiction or substance use as they are completely personal and sensitive issues. Choosing the right mood and time to talk is quite essential for ensuring positive outcomes from the conversations. For example, the addicts should not be approached with these discussions when they are high as this may lead to them become aggressive and spoil sport. Also, it would be ideal to discuss with them when a negative consequence from their addictive behaviour is still fresh. Once acceptance is made, trials to convince them to get therapy is the next step to recovery. Denial can be efficiently overcome using therapy. 

Therapy

An addiction therapist can help addicts realise their state and design customised programs to overcome their addiction. An addict who lives in denial will paint a picture of himself/herself as being the victim in all aspects. You would be surprised to know the lengths people go not to accept what’s really painful inside them. An experienced therapist would address the five characteristics denial, rationalisation, evasion, defensiveness, manipulation, and resistance that are often common in substance users.

From this perspective, constructive or therapeutic interactions are useful in helping [addicts] to identify addiction and reconnect with their life goals, to help discover discrepancies between current behaviour and their desired ideals, and to resolve ambivalence about making positive changes.

Phoenix Rehab Services is a leading Rehabilitation Centre in India for Substance Abuse and Behavioural Addiction. At Phoenix, we can help provide the right tools to you or your loved ones on the journey to lead a healthy life free from addiction. Our reliable & effective Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Program is headed and supported by experienced & dedicated de-addiction therapists and is driven by motivated staff that is equipped to handle the various needs of patients and has years of experience in treating addiction.