As an individual with a former addiction, you have learned to break many habits, change many old routines, and work on your thought processes and reactions. You have transformed your life, and now you are on your way to a healthy life of sobriety. You may find, however, that you still have some old habits that peak out at random times. One of those habits may be having a confirmation bias. You may still have a hard time realizing that your reality may be different than someone else. Your former addiction was yours, and you are the only one who truly understands what it was like for you. Understanding that others may have a different reality than you do can be hard and something that takes time to accept. The work you do to better yourself does not end when your addiction ends; fighting old habits takes time and energy. All of that effort is worth it, however, when you begin to see the person you have become.
What Is Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that will confirm what you believe. This could mean searching intensely to find arguments that support your view and ignoring arguments that are just as relevant that would not support your view. When you are solely looking for supporting facts, you will, of course, find them. This is something that many of us are guilty of doing. Oftentimes we do not even really think about it; we just do it because we want to win the argument, or we simply want to be right in the moment.
Someone with an addiction may resort to confirmation bias quite often. It is possible that they do not want to acknowledge that they have a problem, are not ready for help, or simply do not want to see another point of view. As someone on the road to recovery and living a sober lifestyle, you can probably think back to a time in your life that looked very similar to that. You used confirmation bias to live in your addiction. Now as you live your sober lifestyle, you have to consciously fight old habits such as using a confirmation bias. Working to see both sides to every argument is a mature thing to do. Understanding that others are only looking out for you is key to seeing their point of view.
Your Reality Versus Other’s Reality
You may go to a restaurant that you and your significant other usually really enjoy. This time they had some very loud music playing. You love music and happened to really enjoy the music. To you, it was a perfect experience because you loved your food and you loved the atmosphere. When you leave, you tell your significant other that you thought the night had gone perfectly. Your significant other says that he thought it was actually a really bad night. He thought the music was too loud, and he didn’t enjoy his food as much because of the atmosphere. Your reality of it being a perfect night is perfectly valid. Your significant other’s reality is just as valid. You do not agree, and you both saw the evening differently.
Your unconscious thought process here is very different from your significant other’s. There is also a good chance that you did not think about your differing reality until you were made aware of it.
Keep Bettering Yourself
Addiction has a way of making us feel as if we absolutely need our substance of choice to survive. It feeds us doubt, panic, and struggle. Even now as you are in recovery, you may still feel doubt at some point, or worry that you are not doing enough to stay on the right path. As you journey through recovery, you will continue to find areas of your life that were impacted by your past addiction. As hard as you have worked, it could take a lifetime to discover every area that changed or transformed during your addiction. It is perfectly normal to still struggle with certain areas of your life. Not one person is perfect, and life would be extremely boring if anyone were. Continue to work with a therapist to understand your logic, your reality, and your feelings. As you grow and journey through recovery, things within you will change. It is important to keep growing and to keep working on areas of your life that you may struggle with. Growth does not simply end when you no longer are addicted to substances. Continuing to work hard on yourself with the help of a mental health professional is very important to continued growth.
Working through old habits and past confirmation biases and understanding the differences in perceived realities is important to your continued growth. As you work through your long-term recovery, it is important to continue working on yourself. You may find that some old habits have followed you into recovery. We have all been guilty of confirmation bias at some point in our lives. We have all been guilty of not acknowledging another person’s reality. Taking the time to remember that everyone experiences things differently is important to your personal growth and development. These issues can be challenging to work on and will take a good amount of time and energy. At The Guest House Ocala, we are here to help you work through challenges like these regardless of where you are in your recovery. Call us today to learn more about all of our different treatment options at (855) 483-7800.