The Spiritual Malady of Addiction

Content

Do You Have a Skill (or Two) to Share With Us, Please?
A Higher Power and Our Spiritual Awakening
Recovery Starts Here.
Pope Francis: Put Forgiveness and Mercy at the Heart of your Life
The Spiritual Malady of Addiction

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. Fear and resentment dominated my thoughts and I made decisions based on self which caused me harm and harmed others.

spiritual malady

The 12-Steps focus on addressing and fixing the spiritual problems that led us into our addiction, and by doing so, we find that they allow us to positively change our mental and physical issues. You are merely instructed to be open to the idea that you are not the end all be all, that there exists out in the universe something that is greater or more powerful than yourself. However, you choose to interact with that higher power is also up to you. Whether you seek to engage in formal prayer, informal mental conversations, or merely by doing good and putting positive energy into the universe, there is no right or wrong way to pray to your higher power. Once you open up to this idea and implement that spiritual connection, you will experience your long-awaited spiritual awakening, the answer to that pesky spiritual malady we suffer from as alcoholics.

Do You Have a Skill (or Two) to Share With Us, Please?

Abusing alcohol is a form of self-medicating that, at first and superficially, seems to help. However, it quickly becomes apparent that doing so is only masking the underlying issues. Similarly, those who struggle with alcohol addiction are more susceptible to developing a mental health issue. When this occurs, individuals are experiencing what experts refer to as a co-occurring disorder. It is treated through dual diagnosis, which looks to address both the physical addiction and mental health issues affecting the individual. The spiritual aspects of recovery and the ‘God word’ can be an obstacle for many new folks trying to get sober.

As addicts we can become so focused on the outward form our addiction takes – whether that booze, drugs, sex, overeating, etc. – that we overlook its deep roots at the core of our being.
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.
It is loaded with old ideas and religiosity, tainted by overuse, abuse, and centuries of bad press.
It’s really not my mind — the mental obsession — that is the underlying root of what will take me back to drinking.
We use everything and everyone, even when we stop using alcohol and drugs to cope with thesefeelings of being unsatisfied and uncomfortable in life.
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.

This is the type ofspiritually maladapted behaviorthat 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. Anxiousness, depression, and boredom are a few other factors that contribute to being spiritually maladapted.

A Higher Power and Our Spiritual Awakening

Find Addiction Rehabs does not endorse any treatment facility or guarantee the quality of care provided, or the results to be achieved, by any treatment facility. The information provided by Find Addiction Rehabs https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-spiritual-malady-means/ is not a substitute for professional treatment advice. Others might find strength in their sobriety itself or in their fellow AA members. The important thing is that you find something that works for you.

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.

Recovery Starts Here.

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. Many men and women in AA describe certain feelings they had before picking up a drink or drug. 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.

Self-reliance can also be dangerous because it can lead to pride. It leads to judgment, isolation, and a feeling of superiority. I was born Jewish and had studied both the Old and New Testament. I had been practicing meditation for almost 20 years and had read countless books on Eastern religion and thought. I had studied Emmett Fox, The Course in Miracles and was a card-carrying member of the Self-Realization Fellowship (originated by Paramahansa Yogananda). I proceeded to give John a discourse about the human ego, transcendence, and the Oneness of all things.

A Deep Look into the Spiritual Void

My troubles are of my own making and arise out my living a life run on self-will. I must be God centered instead of self centered and God directed rather than self directed . The specific directions in the first 102 pages of the book Alcoholic Anonymous.

About Ken Decorte