What is important though is that we strive to be a little better every single day and never give up on our spiritual journey in recovery. Our spiritual malady never just goes away and stays away on its own, it requires a constant spiritual connectivity and effort on our parts in our programs to keep it and the subsequent alcohol and drug abuse at bay. So long as we make an active effort to address our spiritual malady every day, we will find relief from it, one day at a time. Sometimes others expel the same negative emotions on to us. I have found this a fairly common trait among male alcoholics in recovery settings and meetings. This 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”.

When things had died down and calm restored I spent the evening not in my fear or shame but in empathy and compassion. For example, this family have just moved into my neighbourhood, they seem wild and out of control. My step 4 showed me this is the spiritual malady aa unhealthy fruit of my greed, gluttony, my lust, my sloth. My dismissiveness and my arrogance are parts of defence mechanism against rejection, they guard my inherent sense of shame. I am full of shame, more so than fear, although these two overlap.

In Modern Terms, What is the “Spiritual Malady” of AA?

We had limited control over behaviour at times due to intoxication and acted on occasion in a way that shames us today. The other part is that this guy, if an alcoholic like me, has real difficulties accessing in his heart and mind how he actually “feels” at any particular time. Or rather what emotions he is experiencing at any particular time. Step 1 in the AA programme is “ We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable”. It is emotionally healthy to surrender and accept things over which we have no control. For many recovering alcoholics this may be another unpalatable truth, that they have issues with emotional responding, with being emotionally mature. If further validation is required I suggest a frank conversation with a loved one, wife, husband, child, parent, etc. For the addict or alcoholic, this often times means working the Steps and in the process of working these steps, getting the required “psychic change” that will expel the obsession to use and allow you to live a meaningful and happy life. How this works, I can’t say for certain but it does work and very often at some point during working the Steps, the addict or alcoholic will notice that they have had a complete shift in the way they view life.

• Know him therefore who is above reason; and let his peace give thee peace.
• In fact our first “spiritual” wakening was probably the result of drinking as it transformed how we felt about ourselves and the world in which we lived.
• I knew I wanted to grow into becoming a better and more whole person, but did not know how to talk about it.
• Wouldn’t that meant the 12 Steps would not work for them?

© 2022 | Find Addiction Rehabs Find Addiction Rehabs is not a medical provider or treatment facility and does not provide medical advice. Spiritually, we have a difficult time connecting to a higher power. It is common to find yourself being angry at God or saying things like “if God was real this wouldn’t have happened to me” or not understanding why things are the way they are. First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade.

December 21, 2020 by Burning Tree Programs in

I am assailed externally by fear of what other’s think about me and internally about what I think of me – when these two line up it can have a powerful and damaging effect on my psyche. I have found over the last decade in recovery that when I turn my Will over to the care of the God of my understanding that I am restored to sanity and my thoughts are sound, they are on a higher plane as the Big Book tells me. I have seen in myself how fear and shame seem to drive most of my maladaptive behaviour. We have difficulties in our relationships with others, these relationships are often unhealthy and ill. Some of us have this knawing feeling of not being good enough, have a hole in the soul which we are/were kinda always unconsciously trying to protect, shield from the world. Some of us are “people pleasers”, some of us are dismissive towards others. I can be a dismissive person more than a people pleaser. It is all manipulating our interaction with others to our selfish ends. The website does not provide medical or psychological advice and the information contained on the website is not intended to be a substitute for, or to be relied upon, as medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We are not directing any individuals to specific treatment modalities or treatment providers.

When I have a fear of not getting stuff and this is linked to insecurity, as mentioned in the Big Book, it is usually in relation to my pocket book, financial insecurity, personal relationships, self esteem etc. 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. In other words, he became dependent on others, on external means for approval and elevating his self esteem. It is emotionally healthy to be altruistic – to help others without question or expectation. It is emotionally healthy to accept yourself as you are. “The principles of the programme of Alcoholics Anonymous are scientific and closely follow all the helping therapies which lead people to emotional well-being. I end, however, with some words from a doctor who seems to be suggesting that AA works because it makes us more emotionally healthy.

That is not to say that normal people cannot be full of sin – a cursory look around the work and it’s events will soon confirm this is the case. What I am saying is that they do not have the emotion dysregulation or fear based responding that I seem to have which often prompts “sin”. So if you find yourself getting caught up on the spiritual nature of recovery, don’t. It really isn’t that difficult, and the beautiful thing about it is that it’s intensely personal and can be understood in any way you see fit. Just be open to the fact that besides being physically sick with addiction, you are also spiritually sick and as such, you need a spiritual solution to your problem. Unlike other diseases, addiction contains a spiritual component referred to by 12 Step recovery fellowships as a “spiritual malady.” The spiritual component of the disease is of major importance, and requires spiritual treatment to be overcome. When the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous was written and published in 1939, the times and language of those times was incredibly different than modern times.

What is normal in terms of a Human Being think this is why it’s good to follow things such as the Four Absolutes from the Oxford Group to for determining appropriate behavior as measured through God’s eyes. Of course, as long as we have minds, we will make judgments about people and situations. On a basic level, judgments about our surroundings help us survive. But with the help of the tools in 12 Step Recovery, our clients have the opportunity to catch these judgments before they harden into harmful prejudices. Perhaps they seem in conflict with providing competent medical care.

Recovery is a Journey

Now, my mind is something I can watch without compulsion; it is a tool that I work with to align my intentions with my behavior. Yes, I need my practices – indeed I feel commanded to perform them – for without them my mind narrows. As I began to heal, the practices of Judaism, such as prayer, study, and teshuvah , began to take on new meaning. Prior to my alcoholism and crashing my life, I primarily viewed Sober Home Jewish practices as either discharging an obligation in order to align myself with my tradition and heritage, or upholding what I thought was an impeccably wise system of ritual behavior. When I began to learn AA’s 12-Steps as a suggested program of spiritual healing, renewal, and change (i.e., recovery), I began to realize that I could explicitly understand Jewish practice from the same perspective.

I struggled with this myself in the early days of my recovery. 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. As overwhelming as I’m sure this all may seem for someone who’s either never had a spiritual connection, or been disconnected for years, I’d like to assure you it’s not as formidable as it may seem. But first, it’s crucial that you understand the difference between a spiritual experience and a religious one. While I could go on forever on the differences between these two ideas, I’ll keep it as simple as possible. If you wish to contact a specific medical detox center then find a specific treatment center using our addiction treatment locator tool.

We use to blot out the feeling of loneliness we experience and we use to numb ourselves from the existential pain we experience simply by existing. Racticing prayer and meditation helps us be mindful of our surroundings and gain consciousness of our spirituality by bringing us closer spiritual malady aa to our higher power. Strengthening this relationship with a spiritual being brought us hope that we can recover from the mental and physical suffering of alcoholism. Anxiousness, depression, and boredom are a few other factors that contribute to being spiritually maladapted.