We have the chance to be free from the sick version of our real self, the self that has been in bondage, in addiction. Most of us were determined to take these secrets, these “sins” to the grave. Sorry for being so direct in this blog, it is a message of hope, there is a way to completely turn your life around. The spirituality of AA is exemplified in helping others, it creates a feeling of wholeness and connectedness with others. High sponsor involvement over time has been found to predict longer recovery . Sponsorship embodies the fellowship’s altruistic orientation, reflecting a “helping and helper therapy principle” . Sponsorship plays an important role in the recovery process.

My stop button broke a long time a ago and probably did not work very well to begin with. 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. As a result we are guarded against those that we perceive will reject us or be negative to us, harm us in some way and we seek to dominate these folk or we are dependent on those who are kind to us, help us and care for us. We are in a sense co-dependent on other people for our sense of esteem. We rely on others in terms of how we feel about ourselves.

What is the spiritual malady of the disease of alcoholism?

“God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference” is the Serenity Prayer used at every AA meeting. The Serenity Prayer is the greatest exercise in prioritisation. I believe we can unwittingly complicate our treatment of alcoholism by believing we have other conditions we see as distinct from alcoholism but which are in fact part of this condition called alcoholism. My affective disorder via various neural and cognitive – affective mechanisms leads to chronic substance use and dependency of these substances. The list of emotional difficulties continues throughout the Big book’s first 164 pages. I do not believe I have the same spiritual malady as other normal people such as those people who were in the Oxford Group. The psychology and neuropsychology of alcoholism, addictive behaviour and recovery. The spiritual aspects of recovery and the ‘God word’ can be an obstacle for many new folks trying to get sober.

For years he had floundered from one sanitarium to another. Then he had gone to Europe, placing himself in the care of a celebrated physician (the psychiatrist, Dr. Jung) who prescribed for him. Though experience had made him skeptical, he finished his treatment with unusual confidence. Above all, he believed he had acquired such a profound knowledge of the inner workings of his mind and its hidden springs that relapse was unthinkable. More baffling still, he could give himself no satisfactory explanation for his fall. The Big Book describes a spiritual experience as a personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism. It also says that it manifests itself in many different forms. This means that the experience looks different for different people. Anybody would be happy with the method that made them well, but that wouldn’t be enough reason to recommend it to everyone. Alcoholism and addiction are a complex disease, and in our experience both personal and professional, they are not addressed and treated anywhere more thoroughly than the 12-Step process.

Lists with This Book

There is much speculation and debate over the etiology of addiction. The desire to understand addiction and find a remedy no doubt arises from the pain and heartache of those affected. Fortunately, amidst all the speculation, God has graciously revealed the underlying roots of addiction. Without this proper understanding of the problem we will provide little more than symptomatic relief. My point is that spending time trying to learn the definition of a spiritual awakening is not as effective as having a spiritual awakening as the result of the steps. This idea is insane because we have admitted that we are powerless over our thoughts, and our lives have become unmanageable because of it. We dont see the truth and only see what we think is the truth.

We must live our lives selflessly and show our gratitude to a higher power for the lives that we live and the opportunity to have a second chance at life. I could identify when he went on to say, “the spiritual malady refers to a derangement of our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. These things are out of whack and not aligned.“ The process of recovery is useful to remedy this problem. The reason for this struggle is the spiritual malady that they face and on a larger scale, it is also the reason for all human suffering. what is a spiritual malady Bear with me on this one, but I believe that the spiritual malady that addicts and alcoholics face is also experienced by almost everyone else on the planet, yet it expresses itself in different manners. On page 62 the text explains that“Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.”This“SELFISHNESS-self-centeredness”(or the “ego”, as some people refer to it) drives us to respond to life situations with the above “symptoms” as well as disorders and addictions other than alcoholism.

I am dismissive of them, intolerant, impatient and arrogant towards them. Not enough action, or effort to change my feelings in a healthy manner. 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. However, there seems to be a problem specifically with a patterned mesh of negative emotions which are activated when someone upsets me. When I was doing my step four what is a spiritual malady inventory as part of my 12 step programme of recovery I did it pretty much as suggested in the Big Book. Also we need to be aware what we project on to other alcoholics is the same thing as they project on to use and sometimes we project if back. I can manage my spiritual malady or emotional dysfunction, I have the tools to do so. I do not necessarily have to react to my feelings of negativity about myself, someone else does not need to experience the consequence of my resentments. If we practice virtues instead of defects then the brain changes for the better and we recover quicker.

It is sad that countless addicts and alcoholics have rejected 12 Step recovery because the G_d word is up on the wall and included in prayers and literature. I’ve struggled with a consistent practice of steps with now 19 yrs of sobriety. I was reading last night in I Peter about living in a way that my prayers are not be hindered. And the book by Chuck C , A New Pair of Glasses, defining the SM as a feeling of consciously separated from God. If you wish to contact a specific medical detox center then find a specific treatment center using our addiction treatment locator tool.

The way humans think is on a spectrum of self-centeredness and god-centeredness. When dealing with the disease of alcoholism we are selfish and self-centered beings. We use everything and everyone, even when we stop using alcohol and drugs to cope with these feelings of being unsatisfied and uncomfortable in life. The more we Sober House focus less on ourselves we allow a god of our understanding to enter our minds and work in our lives. These are a lot of technical and practical aspects of the spiritual approach. The real heart of it comes from the most perplexing aspect of alcoholism and addiction — those who have this disease lack the power to overcome it.