Last week, we had a post up about red flags for drug addiction denial – signs that someone is headed for real trouble with their drug or alcohol addiction. It might be hard to believe, but a truly addicted person might continue to use drugs despite seeing their life spin out of control for some time. Also, they might hedge their bets on continued use even when life still seems to be going OK. Many times, only drug rehab will help a person with this much denial. Take a look here for another big red flag that a person has pretty tall addiction blinders on.

Stories of Drug Use Don’t Match What Other People Say

This is a classic sign of addiction. The person minimizes their use to make it seem more acceptable and off the radar. This is either because they habitually say they only had a few regardless of what they really had, they distract by saying it wasn’t as much as so-and-so had, or because they were so intoxicated there was no way they could keep track. In many cases, it might be all three of those things.

No matter what, this kind of “creative remembering” serves to keep them unaware of the full truth. A person with an addiction copes by avoiding the truth, so it all ties in neatly with this addiction lie. They might be so fooled they don’t even think it’s a problem, strongly defending their skewed version.

The Truth of Addiction Often Means Drug Rehab Is Needed

The way this often gets exposed is when another or several other people have differing stories than the addicted person. They might tell about how the addicted person finished off a case of beer and some hard alcohol, then went over to someone’s house and got into an argument. The addicted person might not have a lot of solid memories of that situation, but will likely defend their version.

It often takes many contradictory stories to penetrate the thick shell of lies and deception that engulfs most people with addiction. When the addicted person has had enough of their problems and is ready to go to drug rehab, they can be embarassed or surprised by what they are told about their addiction. As hard as the truth may be to hear, this can be a real breakthrough experience for someone in drug treatment.

Drug Rehab Keeps Denial In Check

Denial is a very human thing to do, and we all do it every day. We say we just gained a little “water weight” over the weekend, or the house doesn’t look THAT bad, or we can just start budgeting next week. That’s probably why it can be so hard for an addicted person to catch themselves. It can slip through the cracks of accountability, leading to a huge bad habit of distorting the truth.

Drug rehab is a place for people to gently learn to put their guard down and face reality. It can become a real wrestling match, truth and denial fighting to stay on top. But sometimes that is the only way to break the power of an addiction. When drug treatment can help a person accept the truth of their problem, they can put the pieces of their life back together again.

Tags: Drug Addiction Denial Red Flag When Stories Don't Jive, drug treatment, drug-rehab

   

About Erika K.

       

Erika K. has studied addiction and recovery for over ten years. As an accomplished writer, she uses the power of words to help men and women of all ages better understand issues of dependence and substance abuse.

Also written by: Erika K.