Denial Defined

Throughout substance abuse and chemical dependency treatment, addicts must go through a series of denial phases in order to truly comprehend the problem before moving towards a healthy recovery. In total, there are 3 unique denial stages throughout the recovery process. For some users, it can take months or even years to properly address and defeat the addiction.

Denial Types

Two distinct denial types exist in recovery. The first type is akin to lying, as an addict, when confronted about their dependence, denies any issue while understanding its existence. An individual who is truly unaware of the extent of the issue at hand defines the second.

Phase 1

Denial stage 1 refers to a user who refuses to admit to the addiction. This does not necessarily mean that they will not address the issue; rather, they do not view it as a problem. Other users may acknowledge the use, but refuse to accept that an addiction is present. Overcoming this initial stage can only occur through abstinence and educational means. In order for a recovery to take place, the addict must first accept their addiction as a problem behavior.

Phase 2

Denial stage 2 often surfaces following treatment. In this circumstance, the addict feels they have been “cured”, while refusing to seek additional help from exterior sources. In order to move beyond phase 2, the addict must understand that they are powerless to maintain sobriety on their own.

Phase 3

The final denial stage sees an addict refusing to commit full-heartedly to recovery. Though the addict may vocalize a commitment, they may prove unable to maintain it for a long period of time. Phase 3 is often the shortest in the denial pack – leading either to relapse or increased involvement in the recovery lifestyle.

Need Help?

If a friend or loved one is struggling to come to grips with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, seek out help. Don't wait - tomorrow may never come.

Facilitating A Group Intervention

Interventions are generally comprised by a group of family and friends with the intent to aid someone engaged in self-destructive behaviors. Though these encounters are commonly thought to be for individuals struggling with addiction and substance abuse, they can be organized around other behaviors as well.  From hoarding and eating disorders to gambling and mental health issues, interventions are able to help people accept the extent of the issue at hand, and the help being offered to combat it.

1 – Contact friends and family members of the individual for whom the intervention will be based around. This group can include anyone from co-workers to religious figures such as a priest or rabbi. Communicate your ideas surrounding the intervention with those you’d like involved to ensure that all are on board. Discuss your reasoning behind the actions being taken, along with the results you’re hoping to see.

2 – Reach out to an intervention specialist. During the intervention, your loved one may react with anger toward you and the other participants. Involving a neutral party within the circle will help defer aggression and center focus on the real issue at hand. In addition, a trained interventionist can also help organize and moderate the intervention to ensure that everything runs smoothly, and that everyone is on the same page.

3 – Determine terms within the group before the actual intervention. In order to achieve a happy outcome, most interventions will require some form of ultimatum. Enabling the addict through financial aid, shelter, or covering for them will only perpetuate the cycle of addiction and negativity. As such, the addict must understand that they will no longer be provided assistance unless they choose to seek help.

4 – Plan out a place, date and time for the intervention to be held. Ideally, you’ll want to choose a spot that is neutral to both the addict and participants such as a hotel room or friends home.

5 – Participants should each write a letter to the individual describing just how difficult it is to watch them wallow in self-destructive behaviors. Letters should cite specific examples of how the addiction has affected the participant on a personal level and how they hope the addict will seek help for their problems.

6 – Make arrangements for treatment prior to the intervention. Once the individual agrees to treatment, it’s important to enact a plan right away to avoid any second thoughts. Have your treatment facility on call, and travel arrangements ready to go.

The Benefits of Sobriety

Drug and alcohol addiction leads to an array of issues affecting the user’s health, career, relationships and finances, among other things. Breaking the addiction cycle and choosing a sober lifestyle offers the potential for numerous benefits and possibilities that would otherwise remain hidden from view. Though this road can certainly be a challenging one to navigate, the positives await at our destination far outweigh any possible negatives.

Self-Realization

Alcohol often brings out negative aspects in its users. Removing alcohol from the equation provides you with the opportunity to be self-reliant and free. Sobriety allows us to uncover and reconnect with the real you – the genuine article. With the clarity gained from sobriety, it is much easier to determine who you really are and where you are headed in life. The possibilities are endless.

Opportunity

Any time we use exterior substances to ensure happiness, stress relief or to deal with our troubles, it traps us. Life becomes unimaginable without the crutch, and your day becomes consumed by ensuring you are able to obtain it. Alcohol dependency places limits on what we believe we can accomplish. A sober person is not inhibited by alcohol; They do not sabotage betterment efforts; They are free to live how they choose.

Health

Excessive alcohol use works to damage each and every part of our bodies, leading to health deficiencies and illness. Once alcohol is removed from your life, your body will begin to replenish its supply of minerals and vitamins. Your organs will heal, and in time, your metabolism will kick back into gear.

Relationships

Sobriety provides us with the opportunity to renew damaged relationships with loved ones. Addicts will commonly take center stage and priority to everything else in life, causing hurt, embarrassment and resentment among those we care for. By removing the alcohol barrier, the healing process can begin to play out.

Need Help?

If a loved one is suffering from an alcohol or drug addiction, call an intervention specialist to start your path to recovery.

How To Commit An Addict

Alcohol and drug addiction is a dangerous vortex that takes hold of not only the addict, but everyone surrounding them. Loved ones are forced to sit back and watch as the addict’s life spirals to a point where the distinction between reality and abuse becomes blurred beyond distinction. For many people, it can be near impossible for friends and family members to commit a loved one voluntarily. Regardless of how this task is performed, committal rarely lasts more than a 72-hour period – leaving a heap of misunderstandings, frustration and rage in its wake.

1 – Understand that until the addict is actually ready to quit using drugs or alcohol, that you will be unable to help them. When it comes to addiction, the most effective weapon is empathy, compassion and a healthy dose of love.

2 – Educate yourself on the type of drug to which your loved one is addicted. Possessing an understanding of the effects this substance offers may provide you with the tools necessary to break through the addict’s wall.

3 – Research outreach programs that cater to friends and family members of addicted individuals. An array of organizations are available. Once again… By taking the time to educate yourself on the issue, you will stand a better chance of being able to help you loved one through their ordeal.

4 – Communicate your concerns to the addict. Allow them to understand that they are not alone in their suffering, and that help is being made available to them.

5 – Contact a Rehab Specialist today.

The Healing Process – Love After Addiction

Healing a relationship following addiction is no easy task. Difficulties will vary from couple to couple, alongside developed issues and the residual pain caused by them. Being involved in a relationship affected by addiction can be difficult to bounce back from, especially when maintaining a recovery. In this entry, we will offer tips to help you regain the trust lost.

1 – Communicate with your partner. Though it may seem cliché and redundant advice, it does not change its importance. Communication is key to ANY relationship – addiction or no. Expressing yourself alongside fears and troubles lets your partner know that you are being honest with them. As an addict, you likely know how the small things can snowball into something much bigger… Put a stop to them before they can escalate.

2 – Be honest. Keep in mind that your relationship is still fragile, and that any lie – no matter how “white” – holds the potential for irreparable damage. When attempting to heal a wounded relationship, it’s crucial that you take ownership for your infractions quickly. If your partner feels the need to check up on your whereabouts of behaviors, provide her with the ability to do so. Understand that your partner will likely require more than your word in order to trust you again.

3 – Listen! Providing your partner with an open forum to express their emotions without fear of anger or judgment will go a long way in aiding the repair process. Understand that your actions have had an affect on those who care about you most. Let them vent, scream and cry, while comforting them without argument or excuse. Nit picking can wait. If someone is willing to stand by throughout your recovery, they are owed the same attention and love they provide.

Addictions to Beat

Below is a list compiled of the hardest drugs to get quit:

7. Cocaine. Cocaine is an episodic-use drug. It is one moreover associated with certain lifestyles - at one time (if not now) people in the financial industry and entertainment fields - and more often younger people. Studying long-term users of cocaine, Ronald Siegel found most moderated, controlled, or quit their use over time. Patricia Erickson and Bruce Alexander surveyed the research and found that fewer than 10 percent of cocaine addicts continued their addictions for substantial periods. After cocaine use peaked in the 1980s, most middle-class users quit (although use in inner cities continued some time longer). Remarking on this phenomenon, David Musto concluded: "The question we must ask ourselves is not why people take drugs, but why do people stop." He surmised that people with fewer resources had less to counterbalance their addictions.

6. Alcohol. Alcohol is the addiction most written about, both in scientific literature and as recounted in personal memoirs. Alcoholics Anonymous members swear AA is the only way to recover; treatment experts claim alcoholism is inescapable without treatment. But epidemiological research does not find this is true. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 2005 published the results of its National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. NESARC conducted 43,000 face-to-face interviews with a sample of Americans about their lifetime alcohol and drug use. Among these, 4,422 were classifiable at some point in their lives as alcohol dependent (or alcoholic). Somewhat more than a quarter had received any kind of treatment (including in an emergency room, attending AA, etc.). Among the large majority who went untreated, fewer than a quarter drank alcoholically at the time of the interview. Most (about two-thirds) of this group continued drinking non-alcoholically.

5. Valium. In general, drugs used for pacifying purposes (which are usually depressants), taken regularly over long periods of time, are hard to quit. This holds for sedatives, sleeping pills, barbiturates, and tranquilizers. Several best-sellers have been written about the difficulty in quitting Valium (benzodiazepine tranquilizers): Barbara Gordon's I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can and Betty Ford's The Times of My Life. A prominent New York City newscaster, Jim Jensen, recounted in Peoplehow he readily quit cocaine but couldn't get off Valium: "Valium withdrawal soon plunged him into a massive depression that left him unable to eat or sleep. It took two more months in two hospitals for him to regain his mental and physical health." Ah, but Americans love these drugs, need them to survive - although in good part they have been supplanted by antidepressants.

4. Heroin. Powerful analgesics, taken regularly, are difficult for many (but not most) people to quit. After all, most of us have had intravenous supplies of narcotics in the hospital, followed by prescriptions for powerful analgesics when we went home. What is remarkable is not so much that heroin can produce serious withdrawal for some, but how variable this syndrome is and how comparable it is to other depressant and painkiller drugs and analgesics (like Vicodin and OxyContin), which are the fastest growing drugs of abuse and today are taken by the majority of illicit narcotics users and overdose victims. So much has been written about heroin withdrawal, it is mainly worth noting that when people quit the drug with little difficulty (as the major league ballplayer Ron LeFlore did when he entered prison and took up baseball) it is simply considered impermissible to describe or portray this aspect of their stories.

3. Cigarettes. In ratings by cocaine and alcohol addicts, smoking is regularly cited as the more difficult drug to quit, generally on par with or more difficult than heroin. Nonetheless, more than 40 million living Americans have quit smoking. While impressive, this still only represents about half of all of those ever addicted to cigarettes - although a higher percentage of those in higher socioeconomic groups have quit. When I speak to recovering people at addiction conferences I ask, "What is the toughest drug to quit?" By acclimation, the audience shouts out, "cigarettes" or "smoking." I then ask, "How many people in this room have been addicted to cigarettes but are now off them?" Half to two-thirds - often hundreds of people - in the room raise their hands. "Wow," I enthuse. "And how many have used any kind of therapy - medical or a support group - to quit?" Never have more than a small handful done so.

2. Potato chips. I use potato chips, of course, to stand for all kinds of alluring but fattening foods. These comfort foods, which deprive more Americans of life years than any other substance, are inextricably integrated with our own lives, and with the lives of all Americans. Although overweight is disapproved and regularly lectured against, it still doesn't have the stigma of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, so that hidden (and not so hidden) food addictions are more readily tolerated. That gastric bypass surgery is growing so rapidly shows that this is the substance addiction people find hardest to quit, even those for whom it causes serious, life-threatening health conditions. In fact, we will never resolve our massive food addictions in the United States, but we hope to come up with medical cures to prevent their negative effects, as if we would succeed by simply deciding to let smokers continue to smoke noncancerous cigarettes.

1. Love. Ah, love is the hardest addiction to quit. It certainly causes more murders and suicides than any other addiction. And if you think people miss smoking, consider what people are like when they break up with long-time lovers or get divorced - even when they hate their spouses! (See the response to this post, "My divorce has left me . . .") On the other hand, we read frequently about people who totally sacrificed their lives to a lover who betrayed them or otherwise destroyed their psyches, yet who still didn't quit the relationship - what is the answer, after all, when an abuse victim is asked why they simply don't leave an abusive spouse? "Because I love him, and can't live without him." I regularly counsel spouses of substance abusers about this.

Don't despair, however, no matter what your addiction is. The large majority of addicts give up every kind of addiction. So can you. That most people do it, one way or another, tells you that it lies within your power.

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