Honesty in recovery

Addiction is a condition where the person who finds it difficult or impossible to control or stop the using of the substance of choice also develops characteristics that prevent complete recovery. Some of these can be downright antisocial, like stealing, excessive spending, egotism, and of course lying. Alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers help in addressing these issues. Especially important is defining the \’Lies\’.

• What is a lie? Why do people lie?

There are so many types of lying that we as social human beings do. We tell white lies, We lie to avoid punishment, for social niceness, to avoid feeling shame, to avoid becoming vulnerable, to protect others, to not hurt others, to cover-up wrongdoing, to appear more than we are, and more can be added to this list. And these lies are aggravated in addicts and alcoholics. The moment we find that others are judging us we start hiding and lying about our activities. We lie about the using/drinking. We tell lies about who our friends are, we lie about the quantity we use. As our drinking/ drug use progresses, we lie even more. We have to lie to cover-up other lies. We begin to lie so convincingly that we start believing our own made up stories. We lie about who we are as people, about our work, about our life.

In treatment in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in pune and mumbai, we stress on the need to be honest. We focus on the most obvious dishonesty of denial.

•  What kind of honesty is required?

The honesty that is required is honesty with and about ourselves. It becomes almost impossible for us to see what our using has turned us into. The reality of our lives, the way we feel, the way we think, the way we behave has gotten such that people observing us feel we live in another world. And truly addiction does create a bubble in which we think there\’s nothing wrong in living the way we did.

One has to break one\’s denial to become honest. It is very difficult to accept the reality of one\’s behaviour. We have a lot of justifications for our use of alcohol and drugs. We rationalize our usage by blaming people, places, situations and circumstances among a lot of things. We believe we are powerless to do anything about our addiction. In the search for the pleasure of the high, we tell ourselves that we can control and stop our use at any time. We lie to ourselves that we have the will power. We don\’t accept the reality of our love for and desire to stay high.

We are unable to see and recognise the effect of our behaviour. We mostly react to people, and situations with no attempt at self-enquiry or introspection. We get irritated by any form of correction and questioning of our actions. We become unconcerned of the effects of our behavior on others. We start isolating from those who don\’t think like us and don\’t do the things we do. As our attitudes begin to harden in self centered fulfillment of our stubborn desire, we lie to ourselves even more. We believe the lies we tell ourselves concocting rationalizations for our thinking. Thus we justify our continued affaire with the high. One has to come to an acceptance of our condition which requires rigorous honesty with ourselves. Introspection is compulsory for change. If one continues in thinking in the same way that we thought before, we will continue doing the same things we did. We will not be able to see things soberly. Change in ourselves is necessary, along with an honest acceptance of the world as it is. Rigorous honesty with ourselves throws light on the truth of who we have become in our affaire with the high leading to Zorba the best rehab centre in india helps by providing gentle, non-judgmental guidance on what needs to be looked at. We are there when people face their reality, and we show them how to continue being honest about their motives, thoughts and behaviours. We help them get honest about their feelings and provide ways to express them. As a top rehab in Mumbai and Pune Zorba creates an atmosphere where one is comfortable being the person we truly are. One no longer needs to hide behind a facade, or live upto an image, nor try to be someone other than ourselves. Having lost the pressure caused by this one is free to see who we truly are; The good, the bad as well as the ugly!!! Getting to know and accept ourselves at deep levels helps us to transform and become the kind of person we really want to be. Self defeating attitudes, negative thinking and destructive behaviors are thrown aside and replaced by self love, kinship with others and concern for all.