fbpx
Skip to content

TH: +66 20 385 469     Toll Free USA/CAN: 1 888 806 6776     Toll Free UK: 0 808 189 0393     Toll Free AUS: 1 800 251 994     HK: +852 3008 5841     SG: +65 3158 7621

  • Home
  • What We Treat
    • Addiction
      • Alcohol Addiction Treatment
      • Drug Addiction Treatment
      • Amphetamine Addiction Treatment
      • Cocaine Addiction Treatment
      • GHB Addiction Treatment
      • Heroin Addiction Treatment
      • Ecstasy Addiction Treatment
      • Marijuana Addiction Treatment
      • Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment
    • Mental Health
      • Anxiety disorder treatment programme
      • Depression treatment programme
      • Co-treating Addiction and Trauma Disorders
      • Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring Disorders
    • Behavioral Addiction
      • Co-Occurring Disordered Eating Treatment
      • Internet Addiction Treatment
      • Rehab for Gambling Addiction Treatment
  • Our Programme
    • Changing Pathways Addiction Programme
      • Physical Therapy
    • The Kintsugi Programme
    • Disordered Eating Programme
    • Continuing Care
    • Recovery House at The Cabin
    • Sunday Excursions
  • About Our Rehab
    • About the Cabin
    • Accommodation and Facilities
    • Gallery
    • The Cabin Group
    • Our Team
    • Client Testimonials
    • In The Press
    • Blogs
  • Admissions
    • Admissions Process
    • How Rehab Works at The Cabin
    • Online assessment
    • FAQ
    • Family Advice
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Referring a Client

Get Help Now
06/11/2014

Addiction – the truth behind the lies

Home › Blog › Infosheet › Addiction – the truth behind the lies

Addiction – the truth behind the lies

When addiction strikes a loved one, lies and deceit generally follow suit. When this happens, it is important to have an understanding of why an addict feels it necessary to lie. This will allow you to better handle the lies in a way that will aid in recovery instead of enabling their addiction.

The following are the top 6 reasons why addicts feel it necessary to hide the truth:

1.Preserve their Addiction

If an addict were to fully acknowledge the seriousness of the situation at hand, and the people they were hurting in the process, they’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to continue their lifestyle. However, whether consciously or unconsciously, all addicts believe they need their substance of choice, and are willing to do anything in order to continue using – including lying not only to others, but to themselves as well.

Addiction – the truth behind the lies 2

2. Fear of Reality

Growing up, everyone has goals for themselves, and it never includes being dependent on a substance. When addicts reflect on who they have become, they often no longer recognise themselves as the person they used to be. Instead of facing the reality of the situation, they set up an alternate reality in which they can be the person they want to be. They will tell their friends they’ve got a new job, when they are still unemployed. They’ll say they’ve been clean for two weeks, when they just used that afternoon. This allows them to avoid facing the real path they are on.

3. Avoid Confrontation

Many addicts lack well-developed coping mechanisms when it comes to negative experiences and emotions. Often, the addict relies on their addiction to deal with these feelings and situations, in an effort to numb the pain of the negativity. When a loved one begins to ask about their behaviour, or confront their addiction in any manner, the stress of conflict can be overwhelming for the addict. Thus, the addict will do or say anything in an effort to avoid disappointed looks, contemptuous tones, or full blown arguments with people close to them.

 4. Denial

Even when faced with dire consequences of their addiction (such as loss of job, ruined relationships, medical emergencies, etc.), addicts are not quick to accept the fact that their addiction is to blame for these negative effects. While denial can be used in a positive manner for some  people – for example when a person needs some time to come to grips with a grave situation – in the case of an  addict, denial simply serves as negative reinforcement for their behaviour. If they simply don’t accept that their  addiction is causing negative consequences, they can continue using without guilt or shame.

Addiction – the truth behind the lies 4

5. Shame

In moments of sobriety, most addicts feel extremely shameful, guilty, embarrassed and/or regretful of things they have done while using, and even about their addiction in  general. These negative feelings will often cause the addict to delve further into their addiction by looking to their substance as a release from these emotions. And to the people who love them, they will paint a picture of who they wish they were, instead of who they currently are, in an effort to tame these feelings of shame and guilt, and to cover up the activities they regret.

Addiction – the truth behind the lies 5

6. Everyone Around them Ignores their Addiction

Many times, the addict’s friends and family tend to be as strongly in denial as the addict himself. Often friends and family members do not want to come to terms with the fact that their loved one is in serious trouble due to his or her addiction. Many close friends and family offer their own denial responses such as “it’s not too bad yet” or “when something really bad happens, I’ll talk to him”. This type of thinking does not help the addict in any way, and actually reinforces the addict’s belief that lying and keeping things a secret is the best route to go, as it causes the least negative reactions from loved ones.

Unfortunately, lying becomes second-nature for those suffering from addiction, which makes it incredibly important for you – as a friend or family member – to understand the reasons behind the lies, and to handle them in a way which will lead the addict to accepting they need treatment rather them enabling their addiction.

See Is an Addict Lying to You? How to Deal With Lying Behaviour for the proper way to handle these lies in a way that is mutually beneficial for you and the addicted person.

Related Information

  • Is an Addict Lying to You? How to Deal with Lying Behaviour
  • 7 Telltale signs of addiction
Get A Free Consultation
Search

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Alcohol Addiction Treatment
  • Behavioral Addiction
  • Blog
  • Co-occurring Disorders
  • Cocaine Addiction
  • Drug Addiction
  • Food Addiction Treatment
  • Gambling Addiction Treatment
  • Gaming Addiction Treatment
  • Infographic
  • Infosheet
  • Internet Addiction Treatment
  • Prescription Drugs Addiction Treatment
  • Reach
  • Recovery
  • Relapse Prevention
  • Rise
  • Sex Addiction Treatment
  • Trauma and Addiction
  • Video
  • Youth Addiction Treatment
I am the Parent of a Drug Addict
Blog

I am the Parent of a Drug Addict: does that Mean I Am a Failure?

Is your son or daughter a drug addict? It is easy to feel like a failure, but you must realise that it is not your fault! Follow these tips to help both you and your child get through this addiction together. Being the parent of a drug addict is one of the hardest things anyone...
01/13/2016
Setting Up a Daily Recovery Practice
Blog | Recovery

How to Set up a Daily Recovery Practice after Treatment

For many people, breaking free of addiction begins with an inpatient treatment programme, but there’s a strong day-to-day aspect involved with staying clean and sober. In this post, we explore what goes into setting up a successful daily recovery practice. Sharelines
12/04/2017
10 Ways How Life Gets Better When You are Living Sober
Blog | Recovery

10 Ways Life Gets Better When You are Living Sober

Wondering what life will be like when you are sober? Need a gentle reminder of why being sober is better? Check out these 10 ways in which life definitely gets better once you become sober. In early addiction recovery you are probably still struggling to imagine what life will be like without your addiction. Living...
05/18/2015
The Cabin Logo

The Cabin Rehab Centre
9 Khua Mung, Saraphi District,
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50140

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Linkedin

OUR TREATMENT

  • Alcohol Addiction Treatment
  • Drug Addiction Treatment
  • Disordered Eating Programme
  • Gambling Addiction Treatment
  • Changing Pathways
  • Kintsugi Programme
  • Sunday Excursions
  • Relapse Prevention

ABOUT THE CABIN

  • About Us
  • The Professional Team
  • Why The Cabin
  • Our Accommodation
  • Admissions Process
  • What is Our Client Say?
  • FAQ
  • The Cabin’s Blog
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms and Conditions

CONTACT US

TH: +66 20 385 469
USA/CAN: 1 888 806 6776
UK: 0 808 189 0393
AUS: 1 800 251 994
HK: +852 3008 5841
SG: +65 3158 7621
Download Our Brochure

© 2023 The Cabin Chiang Mai. All Rights Reserved.

Get Help Today!
Getting the Help You Need Today!

If you require further information, Please do not hesitate to contact us.

  • TH : +662 038 5469
  • US : +1 888 806 6776
  • UK : +44 808 189 0393
  • AU : +61 1 800 251 994
  • HK : +852 3008 5841
  • SG : +65 3158 7621
close
Manage Cookie Consent

To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.

Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.

Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Statistics

Marketing

Features
Always active

Always active
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Statistics

Marketing

Features
Always active

Always active
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Scroll to top
  • Home
  • What We Treat
    • Addiction
      • Alcohol Addiction Treatment
      • Drug Addiction Treatment
      • Amphetamine Addiction Treatment
      • Cocaine Addiction Treatment
      • GHB Addiction Treatment
      • Heroin Addiction Treatment
      • Ecstasy Addiction Treatment
      • Marijuana Addiction Treatment
      • Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment
    • Mental Health
      • Anxiety disorder treatment programme
      • Depression treatment programme
      • Co-treating Addiction and Trauma Disorders
      • Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring Disorders
    • Behavioral Addiction
      • Co-Occurring Disordered Eating Treatment
      • Internet Addiction Treatment
      • Rehab for Gambling Addiction Treatment
  • Our Programme
    • Changing Pathways Addiction Programme
      • Physical Therapy
    • The Kintsugi Programme
    • Disordered Eating Programme
    • Continuing Care
    • Recovery House at The Cabin
    • Sunday Excursions
  • About Our Rehab
    • About the Cabin
    • Accommodation and Facilities
    • Gallery
    • The Cabin Group
    • Our Team
    • Client Testimonials
    • In The Press
    • Blogs
  • Admissions
    • Admissions Process
    • How Rehab Works at The Cabin
    • Online assessment
    • FAQ
    • Family Advice
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Referring a Client