Thoughts of Recovery No 17 The Spiritual Malady Step 1

This has been borne out in millions of cases around the world. Today this would be termed “despite negative consequences”. There are no individualistic programs or people simply doing their own thing, it is a collective program of action. The most beautiful thing about me most days is the fruits of my recovery.

Those in addiction recovery can practice spirituality and find a greater purpose by helping others. This sin disease had very real psychological, emotional and physical and physiological effect on the mind and body.

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If someone hurts me, according to my step 4, my angry resentment of what they have said or done makes me ashamed. I was drawing up a web of my emotional dysregulation, a route map of all the wrong ways to go, to emotional cul de sacs. My past constantly assailed me emotionally, randomly attacking my mind. When I was doing my step four inventory as part of my 12 step programme of recovery I did it pretty much as suggested in the Big Book. My emotions became wedded in time to being undifferentiated arousal states that prompted me to seek an external way to deal with these troubling emotional/arousal states.

• These individuals find comfort in their faith and find meaning in living out a life that honors their god or higher power.
• Find meaning in exploring and connecting to nature, which can also make one feel small—in a positive way that improves self-awareness and understanding.
• The spiritual malady, however, can be seen as an inward unmanageability.
• A decade of therapy also showed Bill Wilson he has two default settings in his relationship to other human beings – he either tried to dominate them or he became dependent on them for his sense of self and emotional well being.
• It is loaded with old ideas and religiosity, tainted by overuse, abuse, and centuries of bad press.
• The desire to escape our lives through alcohol and drugs isn’t always clawing at us – in fact, we don’t even think about it.

I would not change one word in the first 164 pages of the BB. For example, false pride, intolerance, impatience, arrogance, shame, lust, gluttony, greed. Conveniently, I overlooked the words ‘God as you understand Him (or Her’) ingeniously included in the steps. Finally, someone explained to me that those things are not the insanity that the Big Book talks about; nor are those things https://ecosoberhouse.com/ why the alcoholic’s life becomes unmanageable. In fact, it is extremely hard to describe because much of what is spiritual is that which transcends thought. So to put it into words that describe it is very difficult. Or it is as with Star Wars creator George Lucas who was inspired to come up with the name and concept of the metaphysical and ubiquitous power known as The Force.

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Millions of lives have been saved not to mention the lasting benefits it has brought to families, and societies once harmed by alcoholism. It symbolizes that this was the day when one alcoholic helped another alcoholic achieve lasting sobriety. Dr Bob like Bill Wilson had intermittently stayed sober via involvement with the Oxford Group but they had always relapsed back to drinking. When I am in fear and shame the same pattern of negative reactions entrap my heart in its’ poisonous grip and I react in a way I would not choose to, if more reasonable. Sometimes the shame persists for some time and I try to relieve it by behavioral addictions, too much shopping, too much eating, too much objectification of the opposite sex. These are all parts of my emotionally entangled web that is spun when I react to some sense of rejection.

• If further validation is required I suggest a frank conversation with a loved one, wife, husband, child, parent, etc.
• We become so fixated on it that almost everything we do leads us to think about getting intoxicated.
• We tend to show up with a truckload of old ideas in this area and a lot of us consider ourselves to be atheists.
• I realized it came from the fact that I just saw a woman who was willing to move heaven, and earth, and dog shit every day for a little girl who would never “earn” her place so to speak.
• Thankfully, the“spiritual malady”is no longer a“missing piece”of Step One for me.

For example, this family have just moved into my neighbourhood, they seem wild and out of control. We are far from being Saints but have a solution Saints would approve and achieve a kind of transient sanctity in this 12 step solution of letting go and letting God. I also impressed upon him that mostly I can manage this emotional dysfunction but often I fail to and get into a resentful anger.

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I also contend that our “maladjustment to life” is based on emotional immaturity which is in itself a function of emotion regulation and processing deficits. I contend that alcoholism is an emotional disorder which results in chemical dependency on spiritual malady meaning the substance of alcohol. However in order to treat it we have to first contend with the symptomatic manifestation of this disorder, chronic alcohol use, as it is the most life threatening aspect of this disorder when we present our selves at AA.

Then again if someone comes into AA and we share our message which includes God/Higher Power, that’s different. ‘Spiritual Malady’ and ‘depression’…perhaps they look similar and there is overlap. But IMO once everything that can be done from a spiritual perspective, has been done…or in times of acute crisis…it’s time to let the doctors and specialists take charge.

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The big book smashes home the fact that it is almost impossible for an alcoholic to recover on the basis of self knowledge, and that is still true today. Doing so can help us cope during difficult times, which means spirituality can prove important to addiction recovery. There are certain benefits that can be healthy when a person obsessively seeks development and self-improvement.

It asks them to allow themselves to have a new experience of what these things can mean to them. In other words, the spirituality we encourage at MARR is not a dogmatic set of beliefs. Instead, we help our clients foster an open attitude to trying new solutions. Finally, some find meaning and fulfillment in personal interests—such as art or their career—or in their personal relationships.