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. During this time I was condemned to pick up that first drink again. I need booze to medicate my inner turmoil, tortured mind and my broken heart. Countless times in my “dry drunk” years, I kept going back to the humiliating experience of having “no effective mental defence against the first drink” (Big Book Chapter three “More about alcoholism” p.55 first edition, last paragraph of the chapter).

Through our spiritual connection, we finally are given the power to overcome the disease and live happy, joyous, and free lives in sobriety. Restlessness, irritability, and discontentment are symptomatic of the spiritual illness. 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.

The Bedevilments Are The Measuring Stick For Spiritual Health

Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me. 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. And unless this malady is recognized, and a course of action (the Twelve Steps) is taken to enable God to remove it, the root of our alcoholic illness can lie dormant and burn us when we least expect it. Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me. Addiction is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

Our spiritual malady causes us to be restless, irritable, and discontented. Recovered means free from the obsession and constant struggle to stay sober. That will be lifted if you correctly follow the twelve steps in the book. Alcoholics Anonymous, the book that was created in the late 1930s was used to get people sober. Alcoholics would read and follow the steps in the book and get sober. The three must be addressed to find healing, recovery, and to live life sober.

PROGRAMS

In the 1940’s, if you were an alcoholic, you could go to a hospital and safely detox, however you were required to pay a bill for your stay, which was approximately 5 to 7 days. There was no money in the procedure of “drying out” drunks and addicts. Furthermore, medicalizing addictions has given rise to the multi-billion dollar treatment centre industry. It has also spawned the further rise of “Big Pharma” and their plethora of pharmaceutical interventions to augment the addict’s plight. And let us no forget Government sponsored methadone programs and safe-injection sites for heroine addicts.

I was continuously, “restless, irritable and discontented” (BB “The doctor’s opinion” p. XXV111 4th edition) without alcohol. I believe that an awakening of the spirit and an awakening to a belief in God are not mutually inclusive. With sharing that reflects the boundless range of belief (and non-belief) among A.A. Members — including Buddhism, Islam, Native American faith traditions, and atheism and agnosticism https://ecosoberhouse.com/ — this pamphlet shows how Alcoholics Anonymous is a spiritual organization, rather than a religious one. That, we (Alcoholics Anonymous) think, is the root of the alcoholic’s troubles…So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so.” (2001. A.A. 4th ed. p.62).

The Bedevilments Are The Result Of Not Living The Spiritual Principles

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. 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. It was all over and I knew that I was well and truly beaten! David B told me that by going to therapy, “I was trying to fix a spiritual problem with a psychological solution”. I eventually accepted that the twelve steps are the spiritual tools that will help me to recover from this “hopeless condition of mind and body.” (BB There Is a Solution, p.20).

You know, to be recognized as the number one factor in the cause of alcoholism and, consequently it’s treatment. If you are seeking drug and alcohol related addiction rehab for yourself or a loved one, the YourFirstStep.org hotline is a confidential and convenient solution. Finally, someone explained to me that those things are not the insanity that the Big Book talks about; nor are those things why the alcoholic’s life becomes unmanageable. We should be able to just put the plug in the jug and move on with our lives. They oversimplify our problem and solution and can send the wrong information. I was undoubtedly a very unhappy person, without alcohol to temporarily fill the painful void inside me.

If you wish to contact a specific medical detox center then find a specific treatment center using our addiction treatment locator tool. 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. For the same money, you could buy 4 books and use 3 as sponsee gifts.

Sadly, talk with any heroine addict and ask them about the horrors of trying to detox from methadone addiction, all courtesy of our enabling government sanctioned social services agencies. There are as many different definitions of what spirituality means as there are alcoholics in recovery. A spiritual awakening in the life of any alcoholic in recovery is a very personal matter. The alcoholic who evolves spiritually  receives inner wisdom –  an intuition and understanding – a noetic mindset that goes beyond the traditional five senses. They also experience an ineffable quality from becoming spiritual – one  where their feelings go beyond mere words. 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 better.

And this does not refer to just active alcoholics, it’s referring to the sober state of mind of the dry drunk. The Big Book isn’t shy when providing numerous examples of alcoholism – a soul sickness – and it’s effects on the still suffering alcoholic. The author’s of the book continuously refer to alcoholism as a form of spiritual or soul sickness.

A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding spiritual malady and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade.

The Spiritual Illness

By using this approach, a recovering addict can experience a notable change in their outlook. Following this program will cause them to feel less alone or closed off from the messages of life, thus relieving them from the burden of isolation. This is due to the fact that addiction is really a spiritual disorder. Although the disease has biological, behavioral, and psychological roots, treating those aspects, without including the spiritual component,  is like sticking a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. We tend to think the horseman and the bedevilments describe the alcoholic at the end of their drinking.

• At times, I express my personal opinions about issues that have directly affected my journey.
• Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me.
• This resistance to anything spiritual is the biggest obstacle some addicts confront.
• 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.
• For the same money, you could buy 4 books and use 3 as sponsee gifts.
• This will allow them to undergo the required shift in thought that will free them from their addiction.