Addiction can take a hold of your life like nothing can. For an addict, the grip of addiction will make them do things they wouldn’t otherwise do. Their compulsion and desire for the drug is so strong, nothing else matters. And this is why addicts even develop a behavior and mindset that makes it easy for them to lie and manipulate in order to preserve their addiction.
Addicts are experts at concealing the real deal about their actions and whereabouts. However, you can’t just blame them and brush off their lies as just their character flaw. It’s beyond that. Lying is just one of the many manifestations of their addiction. In as much as addiction is a disease, lying is one of the symptoms.
Lying and addiction go hand in hand. After all, there is no addiction that supports an honest, healthy, and positive lifestyle. The addict is not deliberately trying to believe or deceive us. It’s just one of the many defense mechanisms that they use to cope when they are confronted with uncomfortable realities. In fact, the addict may not even be aware of what is happening.
So why do addicts lie?
Preserving their addiction. Addicts will do whatever it takes in order for them to preserve their lifestyle of substance dependence and abuse. Lying is one of the many, if not the foremost, ways to preserve themselves in their addiction. They think that what their doing is life-preservation when it is just the addiction they are protecting, which ironically destroys their life.
Avoiding reality. Addiction distorts the addict’s sense of reality. Their world before their addiction would seem unrecognizable to them now. They cannot cope. They can’t face the truth around them, or the truth about their addiction, so that they create a different reality in their heads, where their addiction and behavior is acceptable.
Avoiding confrontation. Addicts hate to be called out about their addiction and their bad behavior. This is because they are either in denial or are protecting the reality they have created for themselves. They become defensive and will rebut all your efforts at logical reasoning. In fact, whatever you say will not even get through the mind of the addict.
Shame and embarrassment. When they’re off their high or are sober, the reality hits them and here comes the shame and regret. It can be utterly overwhelming for them. These unpleasant feelings will become unbearable for them so they will only go back to the only thing that numbs them: drug use and lying. They will go back to this destructive cocoon, which have become so comfortable for them.
Pride. Addicts have egos too, and these can be very big. The ego can be so enormous that it can be their primary reason to go on lying. However, this is a false pride as it is inconsistent with their actions.
One lie can lead to another, and before you know it, you already have a web of lies that is hard to escape from. The lies you’ve woven will have become hard to discern from reality. Only by breaking out of this destructive cycle can you begin to overcome addiction and be on the road to sobriety.
Recent Comments