Drug Addiction Denial Red Flags Part 1
Drug and alcohol addiction can seem like it sneaks up on the person who’s addicted. However, there are actually many ways to tell that a person is in denial of their problem. Here are just a few ways to see trouble coming with a drug addiction. Drug treatment may be in the future when you begin to notice these kinds of situations.
photo credit: Diacritical
Continued Drug Use Despite Clear Potential For Disaster
So if you had bumped into the cops a few times recently, your job was in jeopardy, and you were worried about keeping custody of your child after your divorce, how do you manage drug and alcohol use? Well, everything just listed could be dramatically (and negatively) affected by drug and alcohol use. Even casual use might come under close scrutiny with those circumstances.
Someone addicted to drugs may very well express concern about having their life turned upside down by legal problems, a lost job, or problems with child custody. However, they may also defend their right to continue using to help them relieve stress. They may complain about how people are getting too much into their business. They may lay the groundwork for blaming someone else for getting them into trouble.
Drug and alcohol use is a personal behavior, with the responsibility coming squarely on the shoulders of that individual. When they seem to use drugs despite their knowledge of huge potential problems, they are likely in denial of their addiction. A person with better judgment and mental functioning would quickly realize these behaviors need to stop to prevent problems in the future.
Continued Drug Use Despite History of Life Disaster
When a person has already been to jail, already totalled their car, already experienced a divorce or financial ruin from drug and alcohol use, it can be hard to understand why they might continue using. Drug and alcohol addiction is a form of emotional coping – unhealthy, but still a form of coping. When problems get really bad, it may seem like the only way to keep going every day.
The very cause of a person’s destruction is the thing they keep doing. Seems strange, doesn’t it? This is what happens when a person has lost all control of their drinking or drug use. Their immediate emotional and physical gratification constantly trumps their ability to plan for a different life. They may even occassionally express a desire for something different, but while addicted they may simply have little capacity to visualize what’s really wrong much less change
Drug Treatment Is Necessary To Restore Judgment and Healthy Perspective
When a person’s general perspective is so distorted that they knowingly put themselves in jeopardy over and over, it’s time for professional help. An addicted person has impaired judgment and has self-protection habits that keep them from comprehending the truth of their situation. Thankfully, professional counselors at a drug rehab center can help an addicted person understand these destructive patterns. At drug rehab, an addict can gradually regain their abilities to judge situations, make good decisions, and look out for their future.
Check back for another post coming soon about more denial red flags for drug and alcohol addiction. Knowing these signs of denial could help you or someone you care for get their life on a healthy track.
Tags: Drug Addiction Denial Red Flags Part 1, drug treatment, drug-rehab
Monique, glad to see you back. Denial is a HUGE problem in addiction. It’s a mechanism that keeps it alive. I found that I had a lot to say about various denial red flags, more than I can fit in just one additional post. There are at least two more on the way, maybe more as I dig around the topic.