The #1 defense used to avoid the painful truth about one's addiction, is denial.
It comes in many forms, including:
- minimizing one's use or the consequences suffered
- rationalizing about your use to self or others
- being adamant that there isn't a problem in spite of mounting evidence
- blaming use on stress
- negative influences
- problems in a relationship
- ...just to name a few
ENABLING
The #1 way that family, co-workers, and loved ones try to cope is to help the user. The only problem is that it only plays into an addiction and can often lead to continued use instead of recovery. Examples of enabling include:
- justifying their use by saying things like: "he/she's just been under alot of stress"
- covering up or fixing problems created by their use
- avoiding talking about it - trying to "keep the peace" by avoiding the truth - keeping it a secret
- taking over responsibilities the addict needs to be doing as an adult
- allowing the addict to outsmart and manipulate you so they can keep using and not face the truth
Iif you need help with addiction and denial issues and you're in the Atlanta Georgia area, call us today.
