This is the type of spiritually maladapted behavior that we typically exhibit in active alcoholism. When not treating the spiritual aspect of the disease those behaviors are the types of things that will start to make life unmanageable once again. If we do not get spiritually connected with meditation or prayer with a power greater than us it will bring us closer and closer to that drink or drug. In sobriety, if we are self-reliant we usually end up using anything that will make us feel good externally excessively. Especially being alcoholic more often than not, it is our nature to have that “my way or the highway” mentality. Intellectually, believing in something we cannot physically see or a scientifically proven exists is a hard pill to swallow, those intellectual individuals shut the idea out completely.
- However, in keeping with the 10th tradition of AA, the opinions I express in the book do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or positions held by AA as a whole.
- I was in conflict with everyone and everything.
- Because its exactly like allergies; For example, some people can rub their face in a cat’s fur and it doesn’t bother them a bit.
- The only solution to a spiritual malady is a spiritual awakening.
I realized that my problems went much deeper than just psychological disturbances. I heard the expression “soul sickness.” It was a good description of how I was in recovery before I surrendered to the program. Since my early teens, I was already full of hatred, fear, and negativity. It was the same for a long time after getting sober in AA.
FAQs on Issues of Spiritual Malady
These core beliefs make it harder for us to connect with a god of our understanding. On page 62 the text explains that “Selfishness-self-centeredness! 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.
Just an attempt to stimulate thought or discussion and provide information based on my study and experience. Today I look further at the disease of alcoholism focusing on it as a spiritual malady. In conclusion, we find that alcoholism/addiction is not a disease but a spiritual malady.
thoughts on “How do you know if you are having a spiritual experience?”
The professional intervention I received was only a temporary solution. After years of relapse, I eventually got the Gift Of Desperation. (Acronym for GOD) I was then left with no other choice but to surrender to the suggestions of a sponsor. Alcoholics Anonymous advocates a spiritual-moral solution to the problem of alcoholism and addiction. Have U discouraged my family’s support of our church?
That way, they’ll be able to relate to your experience and offer advice from a place of understanding. As we work towards this state of selflessness we find that we are slowly being relieved of the hopeless alcoholic state we once thought we were doomed to be in forever. It is constant maintenance of being spiritually connected with a god of your understanding. Once we are aware of these feelings, we can begin the real work on ourselves.
thoughts on “The Myth of Addiction as a Disease”
One of the teachings we’ve carried forward from AA is that those of us who struggle with compulsive behaviors or addictions suffer from “an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind“. You should also try to find other people in AA who share your beliefs and struggles; they can provide support and fellowship as well as offer helpful advice. Just remember, even if you don’t share the same beliefs, everyone in AA are united by their shared experience with addiction and their desire to stay sober.
- The AA Big Book talks about this delusion we develop in active addiction.
- Since my early teens, I was already full of hatred, fear, and negativity.
After attending FSU and FAU where he majored in writing, Bryan ventured out to follow in the footsteps of his idols, running straight into drug addiction. After being arrested by the President’s Secret Service, Bryan finally started to rebuild his life and beat that monkey off of his back through writing, playing music, and studying Buddhist philosophy. If you have found yourself or a loved one suffering from alcoholism or addiction, you are not alone! If you are ready to change your life and live free of addiction, then Find Addiction Rehabs can help.
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. Is describing, essentially is referring to a stark void in our lives that we constantly attempt to fill with outside things such as drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, or anything we can think to try to feel spiritual malady definition better. It is the emptiness we feel on such a deep level that we turn to self-medication in order to alleviate the sadness and despair that go hand in hand with. But in our quest to fill this void with any and everything we can think of, we completely miss that the only thing that can actually fulfill us a spiritual connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I am not a representative of AA and I do not speak on behalf of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
- It is a sense of “otherness” that keeps us from feeling at peace with ourselves and the world around us.
- Spending time with God and reading His word is a big part of keeping our minds healthy and grounded in truth.
- This is all accomplished by the alcoholic working all Twelve Steps which facilitates a spiritual experience or awakening.
- It is a reality of my powerlessness and unmanageability and enables me to see why I so desperately need to seek a Power Greater than myself.
- Being spiritually maladapted can come from a lack of gratitude.
Once we indulge in the first drink, our judgment and normal concerns are skewed. By taking the 12 steps as directed in the first 103 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. The 164 and More book is sold on this website at the Publisher List Price of $20.00 plus postage. The book may also be sold by Intergroup/Central Offices or recovery book stores at List Price
or slightly higher. But beware of others that sell the book marked up 400% or more.
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