Grampian

Is Addiction Making Your Life Miserable?

It can be difficult for people in the Grampian area to admit that alcohol or drug abuse is making their life miserable. Nobody likes to admit that they have lost control over an aspect of their behaviour, and the situation is further complicated because of the denial that is usually associated with addiction. It may be obvious to people around the person that they are dealing with an addiction problem, but the individual is unable to see this. This is not because the individual is being deliberately deceitful, but that they just can’t see the obvious because of the nature of addiction. The person will get times when the reality of their situation becomes more obvious, and it is at these times that escape from the behaviour becomes a real possibility. If you live in the Grampian area and you have decided that addiction is making your life miserable, you can call us right now or simply text the word “help” to 66777 and wait for us to call you back.

The Denial of Addiction

It is difficult for people who have never been addicted to alcohol or drugs to appreciate things from the perspective of the individual who has fallen into this behaviour. These outsiders just see a person who is doing things that is obviously causing themselves and other people problems, yet they seem unwilling to stop. The true reasons for why the individual is able to ignore this apparently obvious situation are:

• · The person will be physically and psychologically addicted to these substances. This means that there is a strong urge to just keep on using them.
• · The fact that the person is addicted means that there will be an urge to blame other causes for their problems. The individual may blame their family, the government, bad luck, or even the weather for making their life move in a negative direction. The person may truly believe that it is only the alcohol or drugs that are helping them to cope with all the bad things that keep happening to them. Instead of seeing these substances as the source of their misery they see it as the opposite.
• · In order to maintain an addiction the individual needs to rely on a type of cognitive dissonance. Deep down the person will know that the behaviour is causing them harm, but they also know that they want to continue with it. The individual feels uncomfortable because of this cognitive dissonance so they begin to accept all types of illogical ideas to help them maintain some inner peace. The person may believe things like starting to believe that sober living is unsatisfactory, or that they are somehow immune to the negative impact of addiction.
• · Most substance abusers will suffer from terminal uniqueness. They may be able to accept that alcohol or drugs can destroy the lives of other people, but they believe themselves to be the exception to the rule.
• · The individual can believe that they have all the time in the world to solve their substance abuse problems. They deny the reality that every day that they remain stuck in this behaviour is a wasted one, and that they are taking a real risk.
• · The person may have developed the idea that they have to lose everything in order to be able to break away from addiction. This is because they have misunderstood what is meant by the term “rock bottom.” This does not mean that the individual has lost everything – it just means that they have reached a point where they become ready to stop.

We Can Help You Escape the Denial of Addiction

Do not allow the denial of addiction to destroy your life. If you are living in the Grampian area, call us now on 0800 140 4824 to find out about how you can escape and go on to live a far more satisfying life in the future. Once you begin to appreciate the benefits of recovery, you will never want to go back to how things were.