Dallas BraggFormer crystal methamphetamine user, I help men who have sex with men break free from the addictive patterns associated with Chemsex. Currently expanding my expertise by seeking to become a Certified

What’s been your experience with denial in recovery? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

15 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief motivational monologue, Dallas Bragg confronts the role of denial in the recovery journey, specifically how people use comparison to mask their own precarious situation. He argues that every person who has lost everything—jobs, homes, health, freedom—once held those very things, and that early in recovery they often tell themselves, “I’m not that bad.” Bragg labels comparison as a deceptive delay tactic, a form of denial that convinces individuals they are not yet on the edge of a personal “cliff” because someone else has already fallen. By exposing this false comfort, he urges listeners to recognize that they are indeed on the cliff and must face their reality without hiding behind others’ experiences.

Chapters

Here's the truth comparison hides. Every man who lost everything started where you are or has been where you are on your journey. The man with no job had a job once. The man with no apartment had an apartment once. The man in the hospital had a healthy body once. The man in handcuffs had freedom once. And every one of them At some point in the early years, said the exact sentence you're saying right now. I am not that bad. Comparison is not data. Comparison is a delay tactic. It is your denial trying to convince you that the cliff you're walking toward does not apply to you because you're still further back from the edge than the guy who already fell off. You are still on the cliff.