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If you’re struggling with the concept of God, try to find a sponsor who shares your views. That way, they’ll be able to relate to your experience and offer advice from a place of understanding. One of the great things about AA is that it’s flexible – you can make it work for you, even if you don’t believe in God. So, instead of fixating on the parts of the program that don’t work for you, focus on the things that do.
What is Chapter 7 of AA Big Book about?
Chapter 7 of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Big Book is all about working with others. While it may seem obvious that connections with other people are important in our lives, this chapter lays out how these relationships can help people in treatment and recovery – why they're important.
I think this is not a helpful description of the cause. I believe we can unwittingly complicate our treatment of alcoholism by believing we have (and treating) other conditions we see as distinct from alcoholism but which are in fact part of this condition called alcoholism. The list of emotional difficulties continues throughout the Big book’s first 164 pages. This emotional immaturity is referenced throughout the Big Book I believe. For me this maladjustment to life is not exactly the same as the spiritual disease mentioned in the Oxford Group pamphlet. It was 80 years ago, so our knowledge base has moved on greatly from when the Big Book was written.
Big Book ASL – Appendix IV – The Lasker Award
When they don’t work on their spiritual condition, they may continue to harm others and themselves with their selfishness and self-centeredness. When they’re not spiritually fit, they don’t get the obsession to drink. They just won’t live https://ecosoberhouse.com/oxford-house/ up to the joy God intended them to have. Many people are initially turned off to the idea of the program because they believe it preaches religion and God, and many addicts and alcoholics have no desire to pursue a religious answer.
Reach out to our compassionate team to begin your recovery journey. For many folks, including myself, ‘the spiritual’ aspects of recovery can be a challenge. We tend to show up with a truckload of old ideas in this area and a lot of us consider ourselves to be atheists.
The 12 steps and therapy. My experience
Once we are aware of these feelings, we can begin the real work on ourselves. It is not easy to do so but recognizing this aspect of alcoholism forces us to take an honest look in the mirror at our behaviors and attitudes toward life and other people. Although alcoholism isn’t my fault, how I respond to the disease and take charge of my recovery is my responsibility. Let’s say two people, an alcoholic and someone who’s not an alcoholic, are both broke.
The word ‘God’ can be a total turn-off for many of us. It is loaded with old ideas and religiosity, tainted by overuse, abuse, and centuries of bad press. It https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-spiritual-malady-means/ is sad that countless addicts and alcoholics have rejected 12 Step recovery because the G_d word is up on the wall and included in prayers and literature.
The Big Book
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. 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. 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.
Recovery Starts Here.
It helps us see ourselves and our condition of alcoholism and how it effects us and others. The spiritual principles of AA and the 12 steps in particular were drawn from the 4 absolutes of the Oxford group, via initially the 6 steps and the idea of a spiritual malady is also borrowed from the Oxford group. I do not believe I have the same spiritual malady as other normal people such as those people who were in the Oxford Group. The bottom line, a true alcoholic or addict has no power to stop, avoid, or control their drinking. People like us are obsessed with the thought of controlling and enjoying our drugs or alcohol. The biggest problem is that our mind buys the lie that the next time it will be different.
- In other words it is the consequence of my fear based condition, this affective disorder.
- Hopefully the ideas included in this short writing show that there are many ways to approach these topics.
- I was undoubtedly a very unhappy person, without alcohol to temporarily fill the painful void inside me.
- Things may change over time, and you never know when or how your beliefs might evolve.
Here are some things you can do to work through your spiritual malady even if you don’t believe in God or have an understanding of your higher power. People in the rooms refer to this as a ‘god-sized hole’. It’s a void that we used to fill with drugs and alcohol. We will try to fill this god-sized hole with anything we can. A spiritual malady can manifest itself in many different ways. For some, it may manifest as a feeling of being disconnected from others or as a sense of emptiness.