Keeping Addiction And Recovery A Secret - 1464 Words

drugrehab.org - Keeping Addiction and Recovery a Secret When you are suffering from an addiction, you re likely afraid of sharing that information with anyone. However, if you keep your addiction a secret, you re not likely to ever recover from it. You need to admit that you have a problem and take steps to get it resolved as soon as possible. But what is compelling you to keep your addiction or even your recovery a secret? And how harmful can it be to keep secrets? And how can you break your silence and reveal your addiction secret? The answers to these and other questions are discussed in-depth below. How Addiction Stigma Compels Secretiveness Language is an incredibly powerful tool for communication and the words we use control the†¦show more content†¦As a result, the stigma of addiction extends to rehab and recovery, which is a major problem. After all, it doesn t leave people with an addiction very many choices. Not only do they have to keep their addiction a secret, they must also keep their recovery a secret or find a way to beat addiction on their own. The false narrative created by many Hollywood movies and television series is that a person MUST defeat addiction on their own to be successful. And while plenty of people do have the ability to beat addiction by themselves, many others do not. Yes, the prime personal strength and change needs to be self-motivated, but it can also be guided by a professional who can help streamline the process and make it more effective. Rehab should not be scorned with a negative stigma, but embraced as an effective treatment. What Professionals Think About Keeping Addiction And Recovery Secret Alcoholics Anonymous (or AA) is one of the most effective and efficient rehabilitation groups in the world. They have helped millions of people beat alcohol addiction, and through Narcotics Anonymous, have helped even more people beat addiction to other drugs. Their policy on secrets is illuminating: they state that â€Å"You re only as sick as your secrets.† What this means is that they believe you should reveal as much as you feel comfortable revealing in each meeting. For example, people who attend meetings are never required to stand up and discuss