Honesty is vital to recovery

During active addiction the addict begins weaving a world of deception. The alcoholic  or drug addict doesn’t want others to know about their problem, so they lie, deny, minimize, rationalize, anything to prevent exposure of the truth. Sometimes the addict is deceptive for so long, he or she begins confusing reality with the world with the world of deception, unsure what’s true and what’s not true.

In recovery, it’s vital to gradually break through the deception and embrace honesty — honesty with self and others. This is a difficult process for someone who’s been defensive for so long. The individual has to learn how  to be honest, when to be brutally honest and when to not hurt others with honesty just to feel better.

It takes time to break down the walls and become totally honest. Here’s a good article that speaks to honesty in recovery.