Denial
So you don’t think that you are an alcoholic. Chances are that you are not, but this is the thought that many who are unknowingly addicted to alcohol or other mind-altering agents. This denial barrier is the first of many hurdles to overcome when they are identified as having an addiction disorder. Although all denial isn’t bad most of the time, addicts are often the last to recognize their disease, pursuing their addictions into mental illness, the degeneration of health, and ultimately death. This paper will explain the concept of denial, its consequences, and the implications it has for nursing care.
Review of Literature and Knowledge Base
What is denial? Dr. Hilary Knatz, the author of Getting On, states that “Denial, is a way of coping with unpleasant realities” (Knatz, 1999). She then goes on to explain that:
Denial, in the psychological/psychiatric vernacular, is a defensive strategy to minimize anxiety. It is defined and conceptualized in a number of ways, which differ according to theory. In classical Freudian terms, denial is a defense mechanism invoked by a person when there is a danger that he or she will become aware of or act on unconscious primitive impulses that are unacceptable. We defend against such impulses, it is said, by unconsciously limiting our awareness of them, or perhaps attributing them to others. A murderous rage, for example, may be repressed or obscured from our awareness, or it may be attributed to others (p. 2).
The Oxford English Dictionary defines denial to be “the asserting (of anything) to be untrue or invalid; also, the denying of the existence or reality of a thing” (Simpson & Weiner, 1989).
Sometimes denial can be constructive and adaptive, according to R. Davidhizar, V...
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... Individual and political dysfunction in the Thomas-Hill hearings. Journal of Psychohistory, 19, 269-279.
Davidhizar, R., Poole, V., Giger, J. N., & Henderson, M. (1998). When your patient uses denial. Journal of Practical Nursing, 48, 10-14.
McCracken, A. L. (1998). Healthy People 2000: Aging and alcohol. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 24, 37-43.
Simpson, J. A. & Weiner, E. S. C. (1989). Denial. In The Oxford English Dictionary (Vol. 4, p. 456). Taunton, MS: Clarendon Press.
Knatz, H. (1999). Getting On. [On-line]. Available: http://www.awa.com/w2/getting_on/go-3.9.html.
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1994). Signs of effectiveness 2: Preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use: A risk factor / resiliency-based approach (DHHS Publication No. 94-2098, p 93-94). Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Publications.
Denial was also used through the novel as a defense mechanism so that the person can protect themselves from the pain he or she was feeling at that point in time. When Oskar father Thomas Schelle, has gone missing him and his mother both decided it would be a good idea to “fill a suitcase with a poster of Oskar's father and post them all around town they refused to believe that Thomas could have been dead”(For 229). When Oscar and his mother put up these posters it gave them a sense of belief and hope that their loved one may still be alive. Another person the denied the death of a loved one was Oskar grandfather, they believed he was“trying to remake the girl he knew seven years before”, his beloved Anna, who had died in the bombing of Dresden (83). Many Psychologists have said that “ People grieve because they are expecting their loved ones to magically appear even though he or she is really gone”. Living in denial is very hard for a person and it is hard to move on into their day to day routines. Denials help delay the other stages of the grief and this stage usually lasts the longest. One of the first feelings that we experience after Denial is anger. Anger comes after the numbing of shock that something bad just had happened. Oskar puts all of his anger towards his mother because he thinks that his mother does not love his father anymore because he believes she is not honouring his name and memory. Seeing his mother being happy and continuing on with her life makes him think that she does not miss his dad (Foer 170). Oskar was releasing all of his build up anger towards his mother because he felt that it was her fault and that she was moving on without
(1) Kelly, Thomas (2005). “The Epistemic Significance of Disagreement.” Oxford Studies in Epistemology. Eds. Tamar Szabo Gendler and John Hawthorne. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pg.1 – 36.
Hard truth is uncomfortable to deal with; some cope with it with the approach of denial and anger.
“Beyond Hangovers: Understanding Alcohol's Impact Your Health.” Bethesda, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2010. Print.
Denial, the defense mechanism of the previously ignorant, buries problems beneath lies, which only allows them to grow at unbeknownst to others. With it's presence, the evaded issues multiply at alarming rates, problems that can be avoided with simple acknowledgment. Naive and desperate, Phineas, a character from the novel A Separate Peace, consistently demonstrates the quality of denial through his actions pertaining to his friendship with Gene, his best friend. Finny suppresses his knowledge of his friend's jealousy in favor of believing that their fraying friendship provides a haven towards both boys. By portraying Phineas as one who avoids conspicuous issues, The author, John Knowles, teaches the importance of acknowledging core troubles,
Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences dealing with alcoholism will be revealed. Not only are statistics, like the facts mentioned before, important when dealing with an issue such as alcoholism, but personal accounts and information are often more powerful and influential evidence. Non-alcoholics should be allowed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for research purposes.
Alcohol is a very powerful drug. It can ruin someone’s life. It may also be able to ruin everyone that alcoholic lives around. But first what is alcoholism.
WEISMAN, D., 172. On dying and denying: A psychiatric study of terminality (Gerontology series). 1 edn. Behavioral Publications;.
...f Alcoholics Anonymous describes alcoholism as a “cunning, baffling, and powerful “ disease (Alcoholics Anonymous 2001). So when it is said by opponents of the disease concept that alcoholism is a condition of moral weakness or a behavioral condition, I am reminded of people I have met or personally known who have the disease of alcoholism. Most of them were good ,hard working people whom one would never suspect of being alcoholics. But over time alcohol took its toll on their bodies and minds, and, before long they were only shells of their former selves. Many of these alcoholics ended up in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, not because they were “bad people” or had “behavioral problems” , but simply because they had a disease called “alcoholism”. Because of what chronic drinking does to the mind and body, alcoholism should definitely be considered a disease.
Wechsler, H., Nelson T., & Weitzman, E. (February 2000). From Knowledge to Action. Change [On-line], Available: www2.gasou.edu/library/ (Galileo)(EBSCOhost)(Search=Alcohol Abuse).
When first receiving news about the death of a loved one, the normal reaction is shock and denial. No one wants to hear that their father, grandmother, or uncle had just died, and according to Kübler-Ross, one way people cope with grief and loss of a loved one is denial. This means that a person may try and hide from the facts and block out what others are trying to say. That person might deny the reality of the situation and have thoughts like, “He not dead, that’s impossible. He was doing fine just yesterday” or “This must be some kind of mistake.” Denial is a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock that comes after hearing such news. It is difficult for the person to accept the fact that someone dear to them is no longer with them, so they rebuke the truth and instead choose to avoid any type of encounter that forces them to face the truth and reality. This even extends to avoiding thinking about the situation. Gibran sta...
Life makes no sense. An individual goes into a state of shock and wonders how they could possibly go on. Denial can be seen in Canto 4 of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “ In Memoriam A. H. H.” For instance, in the poem the speaker says, “To Sleep I give my powers away; / My will is bondsman to the dark” (93-92).
The human mind is a complex network; the mind also includes thoughts that can be conscious or subconscious. It can be said lies are made to protect something should the truth be too terrible to comprehend. One way to cope is rejection, the supposed truth or idea that will be denied. Rejection will either have been caused or has caused an outside event, such as relationship problems; rejection can also be linked to other emotions, such as fear. To help understand a piece of the human psyche, rejection should be understood to an extent at the least.
Zelman, K. (1995, Dec). Retrieved from The Alcohol Debate: Should You or Shouldn't You: www.medicine.net
Denial is perhaps the most primitive and maladaptive of the defense mechanisms. We engage in the forbidden behavior, but feel no anxiety because memories of that behavior are prevented from entering consciousness. We cannot recall having done anything unacceptable, so we quite honestly deny our behavior.