# How can you prove you're not in denial? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568 "2003-07-06T13:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/21 "2003-07-06T22:29:21Z")
Read “Catch-22.” Read it again. And again. Then, if so inclined, _beat them at their own damn game_ (those who toss down the “denial” card). It’s not only educational, it can provide hours of hilarious entertainment. P.S. It is _imperative_ that you keep a straight face and earnest demeanor when playing this, or all is lost. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/22 "2003-07-07T02:08:24Z")
Reminds me who a guy told me about going to an AA meeting. His problem was with speed, but he said he was taking what they said and relating it to his own drug of choice. Then apparently a counselor came over and assumed he had an alcohol problem. When he said he didn’t, he was accused of being in denial. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/23 "2003-07-07T02:41:44Z")
I most _vehemently_ deny that there is any such thing as a rabid toad! But, don’t lick one, or you’ll get warts, accompanied by an urge to estivate. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/24 "2003-07-07T02:49:02Z")
Drinking my wine, spending my time – waiting for AA poster. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/25 "2003-07-07T02:58:49Z")
Everybody sing! (_to the tune of Peter Pan’s “Following the Leader”_): We’re practicing denial, denial, denial, Practicing denial, dee doop dee doop dee doop! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/27 "2003-07-07T03:14:41Z")
A hornpipe? 😕 I took my malfunctioning car to the mechanic. He said it looked like I had blown a seal. I said, “Look, bud, keep my personal life out of this.” * * * Disclaimer: I have no problem with AA in general or any other way a person needs to get help to help themself. (Yeah, cliche…) ## But, those guys at the first two places really pissed me off. Datclaimer: What diseases _do_ North American amphibians carry/transmit? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/28 "2003-07-07T03:16:00Z")
Someone tells you, “You’re in denial.” You respond, “No I’m not.” They retort, “See?!” So you punch the other person. If they accuse you of being violent, deny it. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/29 "2003-07-07T03:25:03Z")
[sniff] Gosh, I love you guys! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/30 "2003-07-07T05:15:44Z")
Salmonella. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/31 "2003-07-07T05:28:10Z")
Oh… the toads! ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/32 "2003-07-07T06:34:13Z")
Yup. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/33 "2003-07-07T14:46:35Z")
To prove you’re not in denial, facts. Being accused of being in denial isn’t really anything to argue about anyway. It’s one of those terms that the lay person takes and uses to psychobabble. People who are in denial, and there are varying degrees of it, usually IT’S OBVIOUS that there’s a problem. They’re using (not really the right word, it’s more unconscious than that) this defense as a way to maintain some sense of sanity. Here I’m speaking of clinical denial (which is actually not a disorder, rather a functional system taken to extreme). Denial and all other defense mechanisms are a functional part of what gets us throught the day without becoming paralyzed with our emotions. WE ARE ALL IN DENIAL Illustrative example: driving. We all drive, we know logically that there looms the very real possibility of death, serious injury, maybe large monetary expense, trauma, every time we do it. We see evidence of this daily on the highway, or on the news, we know people who have been so harmed, many of us have even been harmed by this. The evidence of the dangerous nature of this activity is there daily. Yet we do it. I had an elementary teacher that would point at kids and say “you’ve got ancestors” just to creep them out. Kids not knowing what ancestors are would think it was some sort of disease or lice or something. I think accusing people of being in denial just for sport is the same sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/34 "2003-07-07T15:43:01Z")
AA person here. IME, some of the people who insist that you’re in denial over a particular problem are the ones who have the problem. They’re miffed that you’re doing what they can’t and so they accuse you of having the same problem to make themselves feel better about it. (This is called projection, BTW.) Not wanting to be confronted about non-problem behavior is one of the reasons I don’t share about personal stuff at meetings. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568/35 "2003-07-07T15:49:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > Someone tells you, “You’re in denial.” > > You respond, “No I’m not.” > > They retort, “See?!” > > So, how do you deal with it? 1. “Same to you,” in response to “You’re in denial.” 2. “Prove that you are not a piece of turd.” 3. “Have you stop beating your wife yet?” etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-you-prove-youre-not-in-denial/186568.md?page=1)