Lying comes easy when you are hiding addiction and can come just as naturally when you are in recovery. You could be relapsing or feel those same urges and do not want people to know. It is important to practice honesty when you are in recovery as it is a great step towards owning up to your mistakes and better correcting them.
Step 10 in the 12 Steps says that “We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.” Lying came natural to you when you would steal money from people you love to pay off drug dealers as well as hiding your stash. You would keep all of your empty bottles in a hidden place. Lying itself can be an addiction because you know that it has worked for you in the past.
Lying in recovery is returning back to ineffective coping strategies. You could be in denial that you still have problems because you do not want to be seen as weak. Maybe you are afraid of disappointing anyone if you admit to them that you still think about using drugs and wish to continue using them. If you continue to lie while you are in recovery, all of those people that you mended relationships with will fall apart again and as well as everything else that addiction took away from you. If you do not admit what is really bothering you, you will not heal and it will make your chances of a relapse greater.
The first person you can be honest with during your recovery is with your therapist. The whole point of therapy is to let your therapist help you. If you lie and pretend that everything is great, that does not give the therapist much to do in terms of your recovery. A therapist’s job is not to judge you but to find a way to make your life easier for you. You also need to own up to moments when you are lying to others. Apologize to the person you lied to and explain to that person why you felt you had to lie. Maybe you can no longer tell when you are lying and telling the truth. If so, write in a journal when someone has told you you lied and write next to it the truth. A successful recovery involves being honest with yourself and others.
Located in Tacoma, Washington, Bayview Center’s mission is to offer clinically-driven programs and services to treat a number of substance abuse disorders along with anxiety and depression using cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, yoga therapy, and more for a successful recovery. For more information, please call us 888 570 7154 at as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
