The Spiritual Malady: How to Attain Peace of Mind and Lasting Happiness by

We become so fixated on it that almost everything we do leads us to think about getting intoxicated. The mind and alcoholism are so cunning, baffling, and powerful that we often cannot fathom how we ended up intoxicated when relying on our strong willpower to stay sober. Almost disappointingly I found some of my sins were quite tame when compared to other people I have spoken to in recovery. Thus my original point is not semantic, AA was not founded by one person, it was co-founded as we alcoholics achieve sobriety with the help of other alcoholics.

AA encourages members to share their experience, strength and hope with other members. It is emotionally healthy to accept our past experiences, however painful, as past events and move on to a richer, more fulfilling future. This spiritual malady is why we need a satisfactory definition of what alcoholism and addition is? Rather than describing these conditions in terms of the manifest symptoms, i.e chronic substance abuse or, at times, vague “spiritual maladies”.

Understanding What a Spiritual Malady Is

The reason is that our reaction to alcohol and drugs is physical, it’s not mental. What many people do not know is that the disease of alcoholism is deeper than an allergy and mental obsession. Our alcoholic life is really the symptom of a spiritual malady. Due to the nature of frequent episodes of  powerlessness over our behavior,  attached to addiction and alcoholism, we often  acted in a way we would never act in sobriety.

I would not change one word in the first 164 pages of the BB. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. We begin to obsess and buy the lie because we want to feel the ease and comfort of the first drink. We drink and set off the craving and the cycle of addiction starts all over again. Our spiritual malady causes us to be restless, irritable, and discontented. We should be able to just put the plug in the jug and move on with our lives.

Am I Responsible For My Disease

The magic of the the steps is that they seem to reveal  the patterns of behaviour that our actions have prompted over the course of our lives. It helps us see ourselves and our condition of alcoholism and how it effects us and others. Keep in mind that this is separate from the physical craving. Even after someone is completely detoxed and has all alcohol or drugs removed from their body, they will still obsess about drinking or using. Often people like us have some of the strongest will power that exists. A spiritual malady, then, reduces to a sense of otherness felt by many alcoholics that prevents them from feeling at peace with themselves and the world around them.

And some of its member do have a culty reliance upon one another, rather than God. So, if you consider that, it’s a fair assumption when made from afar. AA provides many ways of becoming more emotionally well, which ultimately means more emotionally mature. “The principles of the programme of Alcoholics Anonymous are scientific and closely follow all the helping therapies which lead people to emotional well-being. It is the always wanting one more that makes my affective disorder that of addiction and not another disorder.

Contact Your First Step’s National Hotline

The message of recovery is usually from someone who has recovered from alcoholism, this is a power greater than yourself as he/she has used certain tools to recover and this is now being passed on to you, as they were passed onto him or her. The solution to your alcoholism is the same as the solution to their alcoholism. When I am in fear and https://ecosoberhouse.com/ 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. I respond to feelings of humiliation by humiliating you, I react to my chronic shame by attempting to created shame in you. Not enough action, or effort to change my feelings in a healthy manner.

It was one more thing that my disease used to separate me from other folks in the rooms of recovery, another way to feel unique. If you’re struggling to find a Higher Power in AA, know that you’re not alone. There are many people who have been in your shoes and have found creative ways to work around this issue. Remember to keep an open mind and heart, and eventually, you will find something (or someone) who can serve as your own personal higher power. It’s also important to remember that your understanding of a Higher Power can change and evolve over time. As you grow in your sobriety and learn more about yourself, you may find that your concept of a Higher Power changes as well.

Why do alcoholics and addicts have to turn to a Higher Power to live a spiritual life?

Alcoholic thinking is having thoughts like, “I’ll have just one,” or “it really wasn’t that bad.” If our past proves otherwise, and we think like this, then that’s alcoholic thinking. I believe that all people develop some type of unhealthy passion, but that doesn’t mean they are an addict. Someone can abuse something that causes little or no harm to themselves or others. Or maybe it does but given a sufficient reason, they “can” stop or moderate. Addiction is a repetitive engagement in a behavior despite harm to self or others.

• The spiritual illness that we faced acted as a catalyst for our addiction, and every attempt to self-medicate our spiritual malady pushed us deeper and deeper into the disease.
• I believe that all people develop some type of unhealthy passion, but that doesn’t mean they are an addict.
• Hopefully the ideas included in this short writing show that there are many ways to approach these topics.
• Finding a Higher Power is an essential part of Alcoholics Anonymous, but what if you don’t believe in God?
• Millions of lives have been saved not to mention the lasting benefits it has brought to families, and societies once harmed by alcoholism.
• This is one of the reasons that Big Book study groups have become so popular among recovering alcoholics.
• Keep in mind that this is separate from the physical craving.

Desiring stuff seems at the root of my fear based stuff – the exquisite torture of desire which soon loses it’s so-called relish and just becomes torturous. It is a strange feeling of not wanting to be found out of being less than, not good enough. “If people realise what the real me is like, they will reject me! ” type thinking although a lot of this is unconscious and does not pop in to our minds as thoughts but is an unconscious self schema that shapes our behaviours. Most of my distress and emotional pain in recovery comes from wanting stuff, and not getting my way or not accepting things as they are.