What to Do When Your Friends Don’t Believe You’re Addicted
It can be easy to hide the truth from people we love the most. Perhaps you are partaking in drugs and your friends don’t believe you’re addicted. Many times, our closest friends want to offer support when no one else does. Other times, they offer insight and perspective that is needed the most. When you hide your addiction from those friends, you are creating a wedge in your relationship that can be hard to rebuild.
Your friends honestly care about your welfare and if they knew all the facts, they would encourage you to seek help. But people struggling with addiction are very adept at concealing their problems. They hide drugs, alcohol, and other addictive substances from others. Or, if the conversation makes an uncomfortable turn, they are very skilled at redirecting things. If all else fails, those struggling with addiction will continue to deny any sign of dependence on a substance.
As a result, even close friends, spouses, or roommates may not know there is a problem at all. Or, they may not know how bad things are.
Even if your friends don’t believe you are addicted, no one knows you better than yourself.
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A Brief Self-Assessment: “Do I Need Rehab?”
Admitting you have an addiction is the first step in addiction recovery. You are in the driver’s seat, and no one else will be able to go to addiction rehab for you. So, even if friends don’t think you are addicted, you are in the best position to make this important decision.
Before starting this assessment, it is important to be honest with yourself. Many addicts have practiced denial so much before others that they are in denial themselves. No one else will know the outcome of this assessment, so there is every reason to be honest with yourself.
Driving While Under the Influence
Some people know they are not in full possession of their mental or physical abilities before they get behind the wheel. Perhaps they respond by taking the back-way home or driving well below the speed limit. Or, perhaps they drive home from bars, parties, or other places and do not remember the route they took.
If you have driven under the influence more than once or twice, regardless of whether you got caught or anyone got hurt, you may have a problem.
Substance-Related Health Issues
Alcohol use is a good example. After even a short period of abuse, many people begin experiencing liver problems, blackouts, and anemia.
Typically, addiction is the only cause for issues like these. There may be some element of genetic predisposition, but not very much of one. So, health problems are one of the clearest signs that you may need rehab regardless of what your friends say.
Legal Problems
Many legal issues may be directly related to substance abuse, such as DUI, drug possession, or public intoxication. You are the only one who can accurately say whether the issues was a one-time mistake or the sign of something more serious. These are the only two possible interpretations.
Other times, the relationship is indirect. Most people make very bad decisions when they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These substance-related legal problems are much harder for anyone, including your friends, to detect.
Harming Yourself or Another
Before you skip past this part of the rehab assessment, think it through. The harm does not have to be physical and does not have to put anyone in the hospital. Emotional outbursts hurt others, and hurt yourself, just as much as physical violence. Furthermore, even if the act did not cause visible injury, it is still a violent act.
Why You Use the Substance
Many people start using drugs to experiment or to get through a difficult patch of life, such as a relationship break-up. After you know how the substance affects you or long after your boyfriend left, are you still using alcohol or drugs?
On a related note, take stock of the amount you use. If it has increased significantly and you still have basically the same high, you might very well be an addict.
If the results of this assessment disturbed you in any way, even if your friends don’t think you’re addicted, you should reach out to a professional for guidance. The next step could be a low-key session with a nearby counselor, inpatient substance abuse rehab, or something in between. Whatever that next step is, we are here to help. The trusted staff at Desert Cove Recovery will work with you to start your recovery from addiction. You do not need to face this alone.
