What Are The Top Excuses For Not Getting Sober?
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You’ve heard their promises a million times. Each time is more pleading and more convincing than the last. Now, you’re having a hard time deciphering between what is the truth and what is an excuse for not going to treatment and getting sober. You want to believe them. You wish, in your heart of hearts, that they could do this on their own. Consistently, you are proven otherwise. Intuitively, you know, that each argument, each defense, each justification, is really an excuse- even, a flat out lie.
Eventually you start to wonder why they bother coming up with such elaborate stories anyway. If they are going to such great lengths to continue drinking and using drugs, can’t they realize that is clearly a sign of a problem? Seeing clearly is exactly the problem which motivates your loved one to continue lying and making excuses for not going to treatment. Addiction and alcoholism take over the mind by altering the way every important function in the brain works, including its order of survival. By way of the nucleus acumen, where the reward center is located, incoming tidal waves of dopamine flood through the brain, telling every system which listens that pleasure is the most important thing and the greatest pleasure comes from consuming drugs and alcohol. The midbrain is one of the areas which tries to resist, yet ultimately caves into the peer pressure of other systems and the relentless nagging of dopamine. Our order of operations for survival, our core needs as human beings, like eating and sleeping, live in the midbrain. Overtime, “addiction” works its way up until the midbrain recognizes using drugs and alcohol as the most critical need for survival. Excuses, lying, and avoidance are efforts on the part of your loved one to continue drinking and using. At the end, many addicts and alcoholics cannot even feel the pleasure they once did. Instead, they are desperately trying to avoid symptoms of withdrawal, which the brain equates as a threat to survival.
If you believe your loved one is caught in the crossfire of chemical dependency, here are some of the top excuses for not going to treatment:
- I need to get drunk or high
- I deserve to get drunk or high
- I get to do what I want with my life, even if it’s bad for me
- I know what’s best for me, not you
- I don’t have a problem- I can stop at any time on my own
- Everybody gets drunk and high like I do
- Drinking and doing drugs is part of my culture
On the other side of excuses is an opportunity to take action. Action is always followed by change. Everyone is capable of change. Everyone is capable of recovery. If you are ready for treatment, or would like to discuss treatment options for a loved one, call us today at (877) 267-3646.
