Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses, LLC © 2008-
"If you refuse to be evaluated and enter treatment if diagnosed with substance abuse or chemical dependency, the following actions will be taken:"
No manager, colleague, spouse, partner, parent, child, or friend hopes to have to say these words to someone they care for and respect. These are usually the final words used in a technique known as "Intervention". Denial is the major obstacle to overcome when treating someone with the disease of addiction. If the addict refuses to believe they are chemically dependent, no amount of cajoling, begging, or demanding will stop the progress of this disease.
Addiction is chronic (never goes away), progressive (will get worse if ignored), and fatal (accidental OD, accidents, domestic violence, other criminal activity, vomiting and aspiration when intoxicated, and any number of other diseases associated with chemical misuse). Waiting for it to go away, or for the addict to “get it” allows the brain to be altered more profoundly. So much so that it may never return to a “normal” state. The longer this disease goes untreated, the longer, and more difficult, treatment becomes. Believe it or not, denial can be a useful psychological defense mechanism for surviving extremely traumatic situations. It's an ingrained technique that allows us to "ignore" situations that would normally overwhelm us. Denial is the first of “The 5 Stages of Acceptance.” (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance). It allows us to take in bits and pieces of a devastating event in order to develop a plan for dealing with the situation. Pathological denial is the same defense mechanism gone wild. It allows the addict to continue using despite extremely negative consequences as a result of their chemical misuse. It is not a conscious process! The addict doesn't think, "I love my alcohol, so I'll keep making excuses in order to keep drinking." A better example of an addict's thought process might be, "If these people would just leave me alone, I wouldn't have to drink so much (or use drugs, etc.) My drug use helps me deal with these horrible things happening in my life! ...(page 2)
Intervention: Tough Love That Works
Search Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses