This can help the person with AUD feel more at ease and might help them accept that they need treatment for their alcohol use. Denial is often a self-defense mechanism for people under stress, whether or not they drink heavily. People who how to ween off alcohol are displaying denial are typically using it as a way to avoid facing truths that they are unable to deal with.

They might feel powerful, unpleasant emotions such as shame, stress, and fear at the thought of confronting the problem. Individuals with alcohol problems go to great lengths to avoid change. As a result, they lie about their drinking or blame others for their problems. However, these behaviors can fracture their relationships, threaten their employment and exacerbate their addiction. Many people with alcohol addiction lie to hide their drinking habits or the severity of their addiction. Or they may say they’ve only had one beer when they’ve actually had many more.

Understanding Alcoholism Denial: Recognizing the Signs and Overcoming It

The NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator is a great tool that provides more information about alcohol use disorder, how to find treatment, and how to find support. If you think someone you know is in denial about living with alcohol use disorder, there are ways you can help them. In addition to supporting your own mental health, this serves as a role model to your loved one. If your loved one is in denial or doesn’t want to seek treatment, they’re not alone. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health,about 14.5 million people have an AUD, and yet only 7% received treatment that year.

abuse (mental, emotional, physical, verbal, sexual, financial, or other types of abuse)

1. This can be very frustrating for friends and family, but there are ways to make a conversation easier.
2. Individuals in denial may justify their drinking by comparing themselves to others who they believe are worse off or have more severe drinking habits.
3. Help is available through various sources, including talking to a healthcare provider, mental health or substance use professional, and support groups.
4. Alcoholism denial refers to the psychological defense mechanism that allows individuals struggling with alcohol addiction to refuse, minimize, or rationalize their drinking habits.
5. Completing alcohol rehab is a proven method for overcoming alcoholism.

Despite the hardships of this condition, there are ways to help people with alcoholic denial and alcohol abuse issues. First, we report detailed information gathered prospectively every five years from 453 families by the same principal investigators using the same interviews and questionnaires across two generations. Those steps allowed a unique opportunity to ask questions and compare results across time and across generations. Second, denial is a broad concept lacking general agreement regarding the optimal definition, and the current analyses focus on only one of several types of denial that relate to substance use and problems. Third, the global question of how individuals view their drinking pattern was how to flush alcohol out of your system developed for this study and has not been formally evaluated for reliability and validity.

And not everyone with alcohol use disorder experiences it the same way. Sometimes, a person’s personality can influence their tendency for denial. Certain traits, such as independence and perfectionism, can add to a person’s hesitancy or reticence to seek help, says Grawert. You, nor your loved one, are under any obligation to commit to a Legacy Healing Center treatment program when calling the helpline.

mental health issues

Analyses using the 70 female offspring alone could not be adequately interpreted because there were only 9 non-deniers. Unlike denial, which is a coping mechanism, anosognosia is the result of changes to the frontal lobe of the brain. No matter the reason behind your loved one’s denial, help is available. Anger and frustration can be tough emotions when supporting someone with AUD. Reminding yourself that you can’t “fix” your loved one — but you can be there for them — can help you cool off, says Elhaj. All experts agree that when talking to your loved one, it’s best to be patient and compassionate.

Table 3.

Encourage them to seek help, whether through support groups, counseling, or recovery programs tailored for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Remind them that admitting the need for help is the first step towards recovery. Recent studies suggest that the same areas of the brain affected by addiction may be responsible for self-awareness. This means that individuals with alcohol use disorder might struggle to fully comprehend and confront the seriousness of their addiction. Someone might say, “Yeah, I drink every weekend, but at least I’m not like John, who drinks alone every night.” By pointing out the extreme behavior of others, individuals in denial try to diminish the seriousness of their own alcohol misuse. Often, when confronted about their drinking habits, individuals in denial may brush off the concerns or downplay them as insignificant.

For those dependent on a substance, talking to a healthcare provider is the best way to develop a plan for detoxing safely. In the pre-contemplation stage, someone may not view themselves as having an addiction or be willing to evaluate their actions (denial). As the behavior continues, a person may begin to reckon with the idea that there may be a problem (contemplation). The terms denial (or repression) can be defined as selective ignoring of information. Denial is a form of motivated belief or self-deception that detaches an individual from reality (Bortolotti, 2010). To maintain a positive view of themselves, people revise their beliefs in the face of new evidence of good news but ignore bad news.

Offering Protection To People With Alcoholic Denial

It is now well-established that we are prone to various cognitive biases that have powerful influences on how we make decisions. For example, the confirmation bias causes people to embrace information that confirms their pre-existing narratives. People hold certain beliefs (often unconsciously) in part because they attach value to them. Group 1 and 2 offspring comparisons were repeated for the 106-male offspring, 84 (79.2%) of whom were deniers.

“Always approach a loved one from a place of support and desire to help them, instead of leading with judgment or anger,” says Omar Elhaj, MD, a senior medical director at LifeStance Health. “In some families, drinking too much is seen as comical, not a big deal, or a must during celebrations,” she adds. Consequently, many people may not realize their drinking has become a genuine problem. “For starters, the media, our workplaces, and many social circles normalize drinking to excess,” says Ruby Mehta, a clinical social worker and director of clinical operations at Tempest. You suspect your spouse, close friend, or group activities for substance abuse recovery relative has a drinking problem.

A more appropriate way to screen patients for alcohol impairment would be to use a standardized and more detailed review of patterns of drinking and alcohol-related problems such as the ten item AUDIT. This instrument takes only a few minutes complete and can be filled out by patients in the waiting room (Babor, 2001; Sanchez-Roige et al., 2019). Such standardized approaches might be especially useful for identifying high functioning individuals with AUDs whose SES might erroneously imply that they are less likely to have alcohol problems. Sometimes, it may be easier for your loved one with alcohol use disorder to avoid talking about it completely. When you bring up drinking around someone living with alcohol use disorder, they may act as though your concerns are trivial.

To help these individuals consider rehab, many families hold interventions. These meetings allow family members to persuade a loved one to seek help for addiction. That is, the future consequences are not weighed in comparison with the present benefits. The benefits of drug use may be clear and immediate, while the costs are typically delayed and uncertain. They tend to prefer drugs because, at the moment of choice, they value drugs more than they value a possible but uncertain future reward (e.g., health, relationships, or opportunities). It’s important for you and others involved in helping your loved one to understand and view alcohol use disorder as a long-term health condition, just like you do high blood pressure or diabetes.