Has your physician suggested that you not drink (or use drugs) because of a medical condition, or because you are taking medication that might interact negatively with alcohol or other drugs? If so, and you continue to use anyway, you probably have an unhealthy relationship with the substance. Try taking one of the free screening tests on this site: http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com/freescreeningtests.html

Why do most persons with a drug or alcohol problem think they don't have a problem?

There is a one word answer to this question: Denial, but a word that need many words to explain. Basically, the alcoholic or addict has unknowingly developed a lot of mental defenses to avoid recognizing he/she has a problem. Some of these defenses are called rationalization, justification, minimization, externalization, and have definitions that match what they sound like. The alcoholic's and addict's basic drive is to defend the right to continue using. The rationalizing, justifying, and other defenses are all aimed at not having to admit the need to stop using. You can see, I hope, how powerful addiction really is. The more intelligent you are, the more sophisticated your denial system.

Behaviors while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs that go against your value system can be a sign of an addiction problem. Some examples are: being unfaithful to your spouse, lover, or partner, and negative personality change resulting in arguments, combative behavior. If these behaviors occur regularly, you probably need to seek some help.

Can You Hold Your Liquor?

Do you have a high tolerance for alcohol? Are you often the one who takes care of your intoxicated friends even though you drank as much as they did? A high tolerance for alcohol can be a significant indicator of the potential to develop alcoholism. Take the free screening test available on this site and explore the other alcohol abuse information on this site.

SPIRITUALITY

I will suggest in this post some tools that you can use on a daily basis to be drug and alcohol free that can become a part of your own personal recovery program.

Consider setting aside a quiet time every morning to focus on the fact that you are in recovery and to make a conscious commitment to yourself each morning to be abstinent from drug or alcohol use for that day. This daily discipline can become a basic recovery tool for you.At night before retiring for the day, take a few minutes for some quiet time to review the day. If you have not picked up an alcoholic drink or a drug, you can be grateful for that miracle regardless of whatever negative or positive events that have occurred. It is indeed a miracle for an addict or alcoholic to get through a day without using. Again, this daily discipline of reviewing the day before sleeping and being thankful for another day of recovery can become a basic recovery tool for you.

I am now going to suggest that you consider adding a spiritual component to your daily disciplines. I will begin the discussion of spirituality by just making a few observations and asking that the reader of this post try to have an open mind to the concept of spirituality. I use the term spirituality to include any source of strength that you are open to tapping into. Spirituality can be found in organized religions and can be based upon a relationship an individual develops with God. But, spirituality can be developed apart from organized religion and can be based on one's own concept of a source of spiritual strength. So, for now, I suggest that the reader just have an open mind about finding a source of spiritual strength.Willingness to seek a source of spiritual strength, regardless of how that source is defined, is the key to developing a relationship with such a spiritual source. The willingness often is the result of finding that one's own efforts to resolve the drug or alcohol problem have failed.

In my experience, all an individual need do is to adopt daily spiritual disciplines through which the individual reaches out to a source of spiritual strength by prayer, by meditation, by journaling, or in some other way by methodically seeking help, support, and strength from a source outside of, or within, self. It is in the seeking of spiritual strength that one builds an experience based faith in the process and a relationship with a source of spiritual strength. Of course, it is essential that the alcoholic or addict surrender to the fact that use of alcohol or other drugs is no longer a viable option.

Returning to the concept I mentioned in the first paragraph, I will describe now a simple daily program of spiritual disciplines that I have used for 29 years in support of my own recovery. I often guarantee to individuals I counsel that if they commit to such a program and abstain from drug or alcohol use, they will come to experience a serenity and strength that will sustain them no matter what happens in their lives, positive or negative. Set aside a time for quiet reflection on arising at the start of the day and on retiring at the end of the day to focus on your recovery, as follows: on arising, read something positive (for example, a daily meditation book), or perhaps meditate on aspects of your life for which you can be grateful, recommit yourself to abstinence and recovery for that day, and ask for help from whatever your source of spiritual strength may be to stay clean and sober and to strive for a loving response to whatever occurs during the day. At night before retiring, review your day, reflect gratefully that you have not used drugs or alcohol that day, and ask for help in any way that works for you to improve in your reactions that day that may not have been as loving or positive as you would have liked.

In my view, any individual in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction who can get through the day without using can claim a spiritual victory regardless of other calamities or negatives that might have occurred.Performing these spiritual disciplines in the morning and evening, not picking up a drink or a drug, and if at all possible attending a 12 Step meeting, will over a period of time result in your coming to believe in a spiritual source of strength and the process, and can form the foundation of a solid, enduring recovery.

Think! is a concept that can be very useful to individuals in recovery from addictive disease. First, the recovering person must think the first drink or drug through, meaning, before picking up, think of how the first drink or drug has caused you so much past pain and consequences. Secondly, think about all of your contemplated actions in terms of their potential to set you up for, or put you at risk for, a relapse into active addiction. Use your expert knowledge about your addiction to avoid situations and experiences that may be dangerous for you, especially if you are in early recovery. So, THINK.

Thomas Jefferson said: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Let's add a couple of words to make the statement applicable to recovery from addictive disease: "The price of freedom [from addiction] is eternal vigilance."

It is vital that a recovering addict or alcoholic find some way to remember, hopefully on a daily basis, that time does not cure addiction and that he/she must be forever vigilant in awareness of any thought or behavior creeping in to weaken the commitment to abstinence from drug or alcohol use. A wonderfully rewarding and effective way to remain eternally vigilant about recovery is to regularly attend meetings of Twelve Step Groups such as AA or NA.

The Role of Denial in the Power of Addictive Disease

Persons with addictive disease continue to use their substances in the face of a long history of adverse consequences in significant areas of their lives, including medical problems, legal problems, relational problems, and employment problems. The drive to use is stronger than one’s love for a significant other or a child; stronger than loyalty to an employer or a friend; and stronger than one’s values or even spiritual tenets. Persons with addictive disease continue to use long after any rational individual would choose to do so. This article provides a brief explanation of the role of denial in the power of addiction.

Some definitions

The term drug or alcohol addiction is used to mean a primary, chronic, disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, craving, and continued use in the face of adverse consequences. Addiction can develop with frequency of use of as little as two-to-three times a week. An example of addictive disease is alcoholism, or heroin addiction.

A person with addiction may, or may not, develop physical dependence and experience physical withdrawal symptoms upon stopping use; physical dependence usually requires use of alcohol or other drugs many times a day, every day, for a substantial period of time. A diagnosis of addiction does not require the presence of physical dependence.

Denial

Denial is a complex concept that includes many factors. We will focus here on factors commonly understood in the addictions treatment field to operate to cause the addicted person to be out of touch with the reality of the adverse effects of drug or alcohol use. We will use simple understandable, non-technical terms.

Denial in the alcohol or other drug (AOD) addicted person includes the following factors which operate, except for Item 1), in part unconsciously, or, at times, semi-consciously:

1) Deliberate lies.

Addicted persons, be they alcoholic or addicted to illegal drugs, lie and manipulate to protect their ability to satisfy the need to use their DOC (drug of choice). They also lie to themselves and come to believe their own distortions. Addicts who must buy their drugs from illegal sources and use illegal means to finance purchases, will be particularly adept at deliberate falsification and skillful manipulation.

2) Alcohol/drug-induced amnesia (blackouts).

Present inability to recall events occurring while under the influence adds to the “denial” problem. The AOD addicted person in truth cannot remember many of the negative events he/she may be accused of, which adds to the confusion, frustration and delusion of the user (and to the frustration of those close to him/her).

3) Euphoric recall.

Recall of events while AOD impaired tend to be distorted. The AOD addicted person also tends to recall only the good times, not the bad, a selective memory.

4) Denial in Significant others.

Those close to the AOD addicted person experience denial in forms similar to that of the addict or alcoholic, and tend to enable, that is, protect the user from experiencing the natural consequences of his/her inappropriate behaviors.




5) Lack of feedback or ability to reality test what's going on.

Because of the dysfunction which develops in intimate relationships, the AOD addicted person has no way of reality testing, that is, he/she is given no useful feedback about the reality of AOD use and its real impact on significant others. The usual rule in such families is to avoid intimacy and not talk about the problem.

6) Ignorance of the definition of alcoholism or addiction.

Stereotypes of the “typical” alcoholic or addict, myths, even one's own experience with an alcoholic can lead to excluding one's own behavior from the definition. For example, an individual can say:
I don’t drink or use every day
I do my school work
I never drink in the morning
I don’t crave, or need to drink or use
I don’t drink or use much when away from school during Xmas, summer, etc.

7) Toxic effects of AOD on the brain

Addictive AOD use seriously disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, not only causing dysfunction in the action of “feel good” chemicals (neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin) thereby causing craving and loss of control, but also cause dysfunction in the brain’s ability to process, store, and use information.

8) Inconsistency of patterns of AOD use, loss of control and consequences.

The individual may not get drunk every time, may not suffer negatives every time, may be able to quit for a time, etc., and will, of course, focus on the times when nothing bad happened.

9) Influence of media and culture.

Society, commercials, ads all depict alcohol as an integral part of life's activities---sports, good times, bad times, sex, etc. Not drinking is in many parts of society abnormal.

10) Sneaky disease.

The loss of control over, and addiction to, drugs and alcohol are insidious in their onset and development.

11) Stigma.

Alcoholics and addicts are considered by much of society to be weak willed, immoral, irresponsible, and even criminal. Persons who have this disease also tend to internalize this stigmatized notion of the alcoholic or addict, and tend to not only resist applying such a term to themselves, but also resist seeking help because, perhaps, they feel unworthy.

12) Professional enablers.

Even today, when persons with AOD addiction seek help, they often encounter care givers with little expertise in diagnosing and treating AOD disorders, who provide services not directly addressing the addiction. This approach enables the addicted persons to rationalize that they are getting help that may result in a return of the ability to use.