Honesty is a valuable trait that many people admire, but addiction may throw honesty out of the window.

Addicts lie for several reasons. Addicts will lie to others to hide or downplay their addiction, and they will often lie to themselves as well because they are in denial about the severity of their problems. Once the addict gets sober, it is important that they start being honest in recovery.

Why Honesty Is Important in Recovery

Addiction recovery is about making positive changes in your life. When you are in recovery, it is time to be honest with others and yourself as your honesty can drastically impact your recovery journey.

Restore Trust

Because of the lies and broken promises you told while you were an addict, it is likely that your friends and family may not fully trust you. Even after you go to an intensive inpatient program and get sober, that broken trust doesn’t magically become repaired overnight. Gaining someone’s trust takes time, especially if you betrayed them before. One of the best ways to do this is to be honest. While we all make mistakes and being honest about these mistakes isn’t always pretty, getting caught in a lie is worse and may lead them to never trust you.

Rebuild Relationships

Unfortunately, addiction can often lead to broken and damaged personal relationships, but honesty in addiction recovery may be able to help mend them. Along with helping to restore trust, honesty in recovery can help you take responsibility for your wrongdoings. When you are honest with yourself about the mistakes you made and your shortcomings, you are better able to accept them. You are also able to offer your loved ones more sincere and heartfelt apologies that can help restore your personal relationships.

Avoid Relapse

Whether it was a common coping mechanism, or you were simply trying to hide your addiction, lying may have been a part of your normal life when you were an addict. Now that you went through a medical detox and are sober, you want to avoid reverting back to this bad habit. Not only will lying hurt your relationships with others, but being dishonest in recovery can be a slippery slope. If you start lying again, you may find yourself falling back into other bad habits as well and return to your old way of life.

Keep Progressing

Honesty in sobriety isn’t just about being honest with other people. You need to be honest with yourself as well. Too often, people in recovery may start to become dishonest with themselves about their sobriety. They may become complacent in their recovery as a result and even relapse. When you are able to honestly evaluate your progress and your recovery, you are better able to stay on track and avoid relapse.

Honesty in recovery isn’t always easy, but it is an important part of rebuilding your life and keeping your sobriety on track. At our Treasure Coast drug rehab, we want to see our patients find lasting success with their sobriety, so we help patients with everything from withdrawal symptoms during our programs to how to approach life after treatment.

If you or someone you care about has yet to get help for a substance abuse problem, do not wait any longer. Call us today at 888-280-4763. At Banyan Detox Stuart, we are here to help.