So, instead of fixating on the parts of the program that don’t work for you, focus on the things that do. Finding a Higher Power is an essential part of Alcoholics Anonymous, but what if you don’t believe in God? You’re not alone – there are plenty of people in AA who don’t believe in God, or who have trouble with the concept of a higher power. In AA, one of the main goals is to become sober and stay sober. To do this, members must rely on their support system which includes other members, sponsors, and meetings. When people become too self-reliant, they often start to think that they don’t need AA anymore.

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. This allows me to do a quick inventory of my negative emotions and a prayer to God to have them removed. My experience is that they are always removed and that we are immediately restored to sanity.

PROGRAMS

He said to list all the negative emotions that I had been in the grip of and exhibiting in relation to my various misdemeanors and the resentments I had held against various people and institutions over the preceding decades. Unless, we let Go and Let God and ask God to remove these negative emotions/sins/defects of character we end up in a futile increasingly distressed spiritual malady spiral of negative emotions. In Grace we can still experience negative emotions but God allows us to see them for what they are and not react. His Grace takes the distress out of thee negative emotions. This is how a mental health disorder manifests itself as distorted fear based thinking which appear, if acted upon, to make one’s situation a whole lot worse.

spiritual malady

If you are an alcoholic, then you know you cannot just put the plug in the jug and quit. If it were as easy as not eating a peanut anymore, then you would have stopped long ago. Conveniently, I overlooked the words ‘God as you understand Him (or Her’) ingeniously included in the steps. Find Addiction Rehabs is not a medical provider or treatment facility and does not provide medical advice.

Blogging The Language of the Heart

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. As Bill Wilson noted, we seem to get distressed when we don’t get what we want or feel people or trying to take away what we have. This blog is about my journey towards a life grounded in balance, gratitude, creativity, and love. AA provides many ways of becoming more emotionally well, which ultimately means more emotionally mature. It is the always wanting one more that makes my affective disorder that of addiction and not another disorder.

  • We have to forgive ourselves and each other for being ill.
  • These illustrate how the 12 step programme can help with an emotion dysregulation disorder.
  • What that means is that all that is required is the belief in a power greater than yourself.

They may start to skip meetings, distance themselves from their support system, and eventually relapse. Spiritually, we have adifficult time connectingto 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.