Recovered On Purpose provides essential 4th Step worksheets to help people overcome the spiritual malady by working through their resentments, fears, and past harms. The spiritual malady is the result of my being out of order with my higher power who I choose to call God. I was the director in the drama of life and managing the world so I could get what I thought I needed to feel ok. Fear and resentment dominated my thoughts and I made decisions based on self which caused me harm and harmed others.
- The 12 Steps of AA encourage improving one’s conscious contact with a higher power, specifically focusing on prayer and meditation in Step 11.
- Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me.
- But seriously, that’s the kind of deep relationships you can build here in CR; as deep as family.
- The ability to view all living things as equals is one of the most important symptoms of a spiritual awakening.
Understanding the Spiritual Malady in AA and its Impact on Recovery
Despite receiving medical treatment from various physicians, his condition never improved until he met with a spiritual leader who advised him to start practicing gratitude through prayer daily. Within weeks of starting the practice his mood dramatically improved which helped him overcome depression completely. Spiritual malady can trigger feelings of irritability, restlessness, and discontentedness. The overall sensation can feel like crawling out of your own skin. These feelings can become unmanageable – more on the unmanageability of life for alcoholics below.
The Mental Obsession
A higher power provides guidance, peace, and purpose, which are essential for overcoming addiction. Identifying the right support system is crucial for sustainable recovery. A supportive environment that understands the spiritual aspects of recovery can provide more meaningful assistance. Of course those things can be classified as “unmanageability” – but they are external unmanageability. The unmanageability that the 1st Step is pointing to is the INWARD unmanageability of our lives – the restlessness, irritability, and discontentment that most alcoholics have even BEFORE they ever picked up their first drink.
Go In: Nine Points to Conscious Living
I survived thirteen years as a mostly dry and yet untreated alcoholic. The hook in their presentation was an answer to their alcohol problem, of Sober living house course. Virtually all their problems were resolved via spiritual awakening and they predicted that the fortune would continue as they experienced subsequent growth going forward in life. They were spawned eighty years ago among a bunch of awakened, God-conscious, ex-problem drinkers who discovered a way to recover from what they termed as spiritual disease, subsequently losing their obsession with alcohol. Rabbi Abraham Twerski once shared a story about a man who was struggling with depression.
Addicts are selfish and self-centered by nature, despairingly focusing on their own depravity of connectedness. Finding a spiritual connection, embracing it and allowing it to evolve can make sobriety much easier. Upon building a spiritual connection, it’s important to remember that there is no “cookie cutter” experience. Most importantly, the addict will experience spirituality as it is individually appropriate. I have learned that twisted thinking and depression are symptoms of the mental aspect of untreated alcoholism. To my amazement, a spiritual mode of living became the solution.
The 12 Steps of AA encourage improving one’s conscious contact with a higher power, specifically focusing on prayer and meditation in Step 11. By dedicating time to these spiritual practices, we can nurture our spiritual life and find the strength to overcome addiction. The journey of recovery is deeply personal, and the role of a higher power can vary for each individual. Whether it involves prayer, meditation, or simply a belief in something greater, maintaining conscious contact with this higher power is essential for fostering spiritual growth and overcoming addiction. For a recovering drug addict, the spiritual awakening can be the difference between life and death.
- Spiritual malady can trigger feelings of irritability, restlessness, and discontentedness.
- So let’s take a look at the questions we can ask ourselves to help us build our spiritual inventory list.
- Today I look further at the disease of alcoholism focusing on it as a spiritual malady.
thoughts on “The Spiritual Malady”
According to Alcoholics Anonymous, informally known as The Big Book, when someone with alcoholism drinks, they have an abnormal reaction likened to an allergic reaction. Once a person with AUD takes an alcoholic drink, the body craves more on a physical level. This is why 12-step organizations believe it is not possible to conquer alcoholism using willpower alone. Instead of seeing spirituality as a means to correct a “flawed” character, it can be viewed as a tool to enrich life and recovery. It involves exploring personal growth, embracing self-acceptance, and finding joy in new, when the spiritual malady is overcome fulfilling activities that don’t involve alcohol. AA suggests that when the spiritual malady is overcome, the Higher Power creates an opportunity for recovery.
There are many maladies out there — anything from chicken pox to “fish odor syndrome” (a metabolic disorder where the body is unable https://handybursche.de/drug-rehab-addiction-treatment-what-is-drug/ to break down trimethylamine, a compound with a strong fishy odor). None of them are fun (and some might hamper our social life), but thankfully in our day and age, most are curable. The 12 Steps of AA are formulated to tackle and rectify spiritual malady, fostering spiritual awakening and recovery. The foundation of the 12-Step Program involves implementing a higher power in our lives, emphasizing the spiritual aspect of addiction recovery.
This spiritual malady, or spiritual disconnection, is the driving force behind our addiction and self-destructive behaviors. Without addressing this spiritual malady, we have absolutely no hope for intrinsic change or recovery. It is this notion that the fellowship of AA was founded upon, and how millions of recovered alcoholics equate their success in overcoming a seemingly hopeless situation.