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Everybody has information floating around inside their head that is inaccurate. Maybe you misheard something in school making you convinced that the capital of Greenland is Wellington. These mental bits of wrong information may later prove to be embarrassing for you, but they are relatively harmless; this is not true of all the inaccurate information in your head. When it comes to addiction, believing the wrong things can have serious consequences – it could even cost you your life. Here are the most damaging lies that people dealing with addiction end up telling themselves.
I Don’t Deserve a Better life
The idea that the downward spiral of addiction is the best you can hope for in life is probably the most horrible lie of all. The fact that you are thinking this way indicates that you are dealing with low self-esteem. It is vital that you see through this lie so that you can begin to enjoy the better life that you do deserve. It does not matter how much bad stuff you have done in the past, you deserve a second chance in life.
I Will Stop Drinking or Taking Drugs Later On
The idea that you have lots of time to sort out your addiction problems is a symptom of denial. The reality is that you could pay the ultimate price for this behaviour at any time, so by continuing to drink or use drugs for even one more day is a huge gamble. The best time for you to stop is right now and there is no reason to believe that any time in the future would be better than now to quit.
I Am Too Young to Quit
There are probably people in their seventies who use the excuse that they are too young to quit drinking or doing drugs. This is just more denial because no matter what age you are, you are already too old to be wasting your life. There is no special age when giving up alcohol or drugs is going to be better for you – it will make your life better right now.
I Need to Drink or Do Drugs So I Can be Creative
There are lots of creative people who have addiction problems, so it is tempting to assume that it is the alcohol or drugs that is allowing them to be creative. It makes sense, does it not? The reality is that these people manage to do good work despite their addiction and not because of it. If they are not able to quit this self-destructive habit, it will eventually rob them of their talent. Using alcohol or drugs to increase creativity makes as much sense as chopping off your ear in the hope of becoming as talented a painter as Van Gogh.
Getting Help for My Addiction Would Ruin My Reputation
The idea that quitting the addiction will ruin your reputation has to be the cruellest lie of all because the opposite is true. Even if you are a particularly high functioning alcoholic or drug user, there are going to be people who suspect that something is amiss; this will be damaging your reputation. If you are unable to quit your addiction, things are just going to keep on getting worse and eventually your reputation will be in tatters. How could stopping that harm your reputation?
Giving up Addiction Means Giving up Fun
One of the effects of addiction is that it numbs your emotions, meaning you do not get to really experience happiness anymore. It is also a reality that addiction reduces your opportunities in life, so the idea that giving it up means giving up fun is absurd. This type of thinking is just more of the denial of addiction.
