Honesty & Openness in Recovery

women supporting each other in recovery

By Melissa Riddle Chalos

There’s no doubt about it: Addiction recovery feels like a monumental pursuit. Like climbing Mount Everest or running a marathon, it takes willingness, effort, and persistence. One day at a time.

And like anyone preparing to take on such a quest, a certain amount of courage is essential. You can’t just show up at the starting line with your shoes and gear, cross your fingers, and talk your way to the finish line. Just as you can’t fake your way to the summit of a mountain, you can’t fake your way to sobriety.

A quest for recovery takes real courage. It takes the courage to be completely open and honest with yourself, with others, and with the process itself. It is essential to be truthful and transparent with the people trying to help you learn how to succeed in the climb — and in life — without chemical dependence.

A quest for recovery takes real courage. It takes the courage to be completely open and honest with yourself, with others, and with the process itself.

The Pit of Withholding Truth

Honesty in recovery is essential. It’s addiction recovery tip No. 1. Just like a physical doctor can only help you so much if you’re not being fully open and honest about your health habits and history, the same goes with your clinicians in treatment.

man being open and honest with son

There are many reasons why people who struggle with substance abuse and addiction stay chained to deception:

  • The fear of consequences
  • To avoid hurting others
  • Lying is a habitual, auto-response
  • Lying sometimes results in positive outcomes, at least temporarily

When you hide, omit, or withhold certain details during admission intakes and assessments, or in group or individual therapy, it may not exactly be lying. You may not even recognize your own deception because, in addiction, dishonesty is the norm. But dishonesty of any kind in the pursuit of recovery can wreck your efforts.

Self-deception is a powerful thing, and as Men’s Health reported, there is a price to pay for bending the truth. Some examples include:

  • The Stress

Whether a lie is a big one or a series of small ones, dishonesty takes a toll on your physical and mental health. Keeping the story straight is a stressor in the short term, but the longer you work to keep the lie going, the greater the physical toll.

  • The Heavier the Lie

Did you know that the bigger the secret, the heavier the weight of carrying it becomes? When you lie, it activates the same part of the brain that regulates perception and vision when you are physically being weighed down. In other words, lying can feel like exertion, exhaustion, or stress. Any energy expended may feel even more difficult because your brain makes sure your body keeps the score.

  • The Cost of Lying

Dishonesty often costs more than you can afford to pay. It wrecks relationships, jobs, opportunities, and most definitely, addiction treatment and recovery.

Dishonesty feeds shame, guilt, and hopelessness, all of which make the pursuit of recovery a losing pursuit. Why? Because learning how to cope with emotions, essential to sobriety, requires honesty at the starting gate. Honesty in recovery fuels success in recovery.

The Perks of Being Up Front

So with all that said, what are some addiction recovery tips for keeping it real? What are the benefits that come with being truthful and up front in recovery?

1. For starters, honesty is good for your health, plain and simple.

Forbes.com shared results of a study led by researchers who estimated the average person lies 11 times a day. The Science of Honesty team advised one group of participants to “speak honestly, truthfully, and sincerely” in every situation, meaning what they say, and a second group to do nothing differently for five weeks. The first group reported fewer headaches, sore throats, nausea, and tension than the second group over the course of the experiment.

2. Secondly, the more honest you are, the more honest you become.

This especially applies to honesty in recovery. Sincerity breeds sincerity. As uncomfortable or difficult as it may be, telling the truth is like building muscle. It results in benefits you can see, like a muscle that grows stronger with use.

3. Thirdly, honesty builds a foundation of trust.

Addiction destroys trust and leaves both you and your relationships damaged. But this trust can be rebuilt. The more you value and practice honesty, the more you experience the rewards of it: accountability and friendship, healing in relationships, and opportunities for growth — all hallmarks of addiction recovery.

Even in the worst situation, having the courage to tell the truth may produce empathy, mercy, and understanding in the relationship, the job, or in the situation you need to salvage.

Even in the worst situation, having the courage to tell the truth may produce empathy, mercy, and understanding in the relationship, the job, or in the situation you need to salvage.

Get to the Root of Your Truth

To learn new ways of dealing with the emotions and issues that trigger substance abuse, you have to be willing not only to take a hard look at the abuse itself, but also to be completely honest about those triggers.

The Meadows Texas offers addiction recovery advice and treatment to help you build a new foundation based on reality. We offer a comprehensive treatment program that gets to the root of what fuels addiction in your life. In individual and group sessions, our caring clinical team helps you work through shame, fear, and hopelessness that produces anxiety, depression, and other co-occurring disorders, laying the groundwork for lasting recovery.

Let us help you get to the root of your truth and on the path to freedom today.