For me, being deceitful about my drinking habits became a steady routine after some time of serious drinking. I thought it was easier for me to lie, hide, or twist the truth than, to be honest with people and deal with the potential consequences that would follow. In hindsight, I suppose I did avoid a lot of the “consequences” I was trying to avoid, but by doing so, I developed other issues and, in many ways, more severe consequences.
I would like to highlight some of the adverse effects being deceitful can have on us. Being deceitful leads us to having to remember the different stories we told different people, which can wear us out emotionally. This could also lead to isolation. Rather than having to remember what we told people, we might believe it is easier just to avoid them by isolating from them. These behaviors can take a negative toll on our relationship with people, not only because of the behaviors themselves but because of the trust issues they will likely cause. All of this can easily lead to anxiety, which can, in turn, affect our ability to maintain healthy sleep patterns as well.
By being deceitful about our addiction, we are also avoiding the issue at hand (our addiction). If there are several people you are having to be dishonest to about your drinking/using habits, the chances are that it is an issue and needs to be addressed. Avoiding the issue and other people can lead to a sense of insecurity as well. Since security is primarily based on trust, eventually, as we lose the trust of others, we will begin to lose our sense of security in the relationships we have formed. This can also lead to a sense of feeling misunderstood and ultimately may lower our self-esteem as well. (Steber, 2018).
As you can see, there are many adverse effects being deceitful about our drinking/using habits bring about. They may or may not have manifested in your particular case as of yet, but why risk that? How much easier would it be not to have to worry about being deceitful and hiding things? Why not just remove this obstacle all together? By remaining sober you can avoid all of these adverse effects being deceitful about your drinking/using habits bring about. Today you can avoid being deceitful about your addiction.
(Photo by Jon Tyson)