Is honesty the best policy? It depends. If someone asks if they look fat in something, NEVER say yes. Even if … well, you get the picture.
Honesty is the best policy when it comes to addiction, however. Trying to hide an addiction does much more harm than good.
For addicts, hiding their addictions is denying them. If we deny something, we refuse to acknowledge that it exists. That might make life easier or a little less stressful in the present, but it can cause catastrophes in the future.
If people deny problems, this also means that they are not making efforts to solve them. Not treating addictions only makes them worse. The longer people use substances, and the more substances they use, the harder it is to treat substance use disorder.
By abusing large amounts of substances for a long period of time, people develop dependencies on the substances. These dependencies make it harder for people to withdraw from drugs or alcohol and can create severe side effects.
Yes, rehab treatment centers can treat such severe side effects. But why not try to prevent such side effects in the first place? By tackling the problem early, addicts can make their lives easier. They can tackle their problems when they are more manageable snowballs, not a massive avalanche.
But we all know that honesty is not easy. People who are in the middle of a substance use disorder problem might not even be able to be honest. Their substance use disorder could have rewired their brains that much. Their drug and alcohol problems are their new truths.
That’s where interventions can come in handy. They allow relatives and friends of addicts to be honest about how their loved ones’ addictions. These interventions, like telling the truth, can be really hard. But they expose problems and help people find solutions. If the truth can set us free, maybe it can also help us heal.
