{"id":46288,"date":"2020-07-29T08:50:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T06:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccadicciones.es\/addiction-denial\/"},"modified":"2020-07-29T08:50:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T06:50:15","slug":"addiction-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccadicciones.es\/en\/addiction-denial\/","title":{"rendered":"Addiction Denial"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the moment a person falls into addiction until they recover, they go through different phases that mark their personal experience with the addiction itself. Of all these, there is one very important phase that the individual must accept before effectively facing treatment<\/a>. We are talking about denial, that period of addiction in which the user employs all kinds of strategies to deny their addictive behavior.<\/strong> A significant part of a person’s degree of addiction is determined by the denial they will exhibit until they finally accept that they have a problem. <\/p>\n

When someone becomes addicted, many aspects of their life change, such as their environment, relationships, connections, or way of thinking. They do this to adapt to the substance or situation they are hooked on. The denial of addiction protects the dependency they have<\/strong>. In this way, the addict detaches from reality and can create an alternative world where they believe the addiction is not harmful. The worst part is that, in many cases, the addict is not aware of denying their addiction. <\/p>\n

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When the Patient Refuses to Accept Reality<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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One of the most significant reasons an addict does not start treatment is because they categorically deny having lost control of their life due to drugs. Not recognizing the problem is one of the factors that most complicates the individual’s ability to begin treatment. <\/p>\n

Sigmund Freud stated that denial or self-deception is a defense mechanism experienced by addicts to reduce the anxiety and pain caused by addiction. Being unable to acknowledge their own behaviors, they must conceal them from themselves to avoid further suffering. Detecting denial is easy.<\/strong> The addict’s situation and its consequences are easily identifiable to everyone, except for the person in denial.<\/p>\n

A typical tendency of the individual is to nullify anything that could embarrass them. In this sense, they will do whatever it takes to protect their image, even if it means ignoring reality. The severity of this behavior can vary, but in some cases, denial can reach such an extent that the person may continue to say they are not addicted despite having lost their job and family due to their addiction. Furthermore, they will blame others or circumstances<\/strong> for the negative consequences to maintain the denial that allows them to continue using. <\/p>\n

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Types of Denial in Addiction<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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The denial phase in addiction can manifest in various forms during the period it occurs:<\/p>\n