What Does It Mean To Be in Denial?

I think that being in denial means not taking responsibility for your own actions. For instance, one of my closest friend blames everyone else for his own problems. He blames his mother for not signing him up for driver's education classes on time when he should have taken responsibility and done it himself. He harbors  so much bitterness toward his mom because he has to wait until he is a freshman in college before he can get his driver's license, but he really should have taken the initiative to sign up for driver's education himself.

It really irritates me when people put themselves into situations like this and then start to blame other people for their problems. If you always go around blaming people when things go wrong, you will never learn how to solve your own problems and you will always have to rely on other people. When my friend starts to blame other people, I always ask him, "why is it the other person's fault? Couldn't you have done anything about it?" Hopefully, when I ask him these questions, he will change his thinking and start to realize that he is, in fact, in charge of his own life. Whenever I see people in denial, I always hope that they have a close friend that will set them straight too.