The Power in the First Step: Accepting Powerlessness For Recovery

Step One AA acknowledges that not only are you powerless over alcohol, but your life has also become unmanageable as a result. This unmanageability often manifests in various ways, such as deteriorating relationships, declining physical and mental health powerless over alcohol and a growing sense of despair. Recognizing this unmanageability is crucial because it propels individuals toward seeking help and making lasting changes. We sometimes feel as if we are the victim and point fingers at other people or situations.

• So you understand the benefits of Step One and of admitting powerlessness, but the next question then is why is such emphasis placed on being reliant on others to get yourself out of addiction?
• Then, you’re ready to believe you can manage your AUD with help from outside sources.
• Getting help from others at a treatment facility and in peer recovery groups can benefit your sobriety.
• Learn more about AA, and how its famous 12 Steps—especially Step 1—can set you on the path to recovery.
• The problem with admitting powerlessness, even when all the evidence points in that direction, is that such an admission is not merely exchanging one belief for another more accurate one.

Understanding Powerlessness

• For starters, antidepressants don’t turn into formaldehyde in your liver like alcohol does, according to my psychiatrist.
• So, if we are in favour of Alanon’s program, is this group just a kind of Alanon group?
• Instead of railing against powerlessness or relying on unhealthy ways of getting our needs met, we can simply share our struggles and ask for help in getting our needs met.
• Admitting powerlessness is what reveals your true strength, and our committed staff is ready to help you find it.
• When you recognize you are out of control, you can regain control.
• I saw that I was worse than I knew, but understanding the problem helped me accept the solution.

If you must have the addiction to feel normal, beware, you may be powerless over your addiction. You might be avoiding taking the first step toward recovery due to myths and misunderstandings surrounding AA and its steps. Here are some of the most common myths debunked or explained.

• But you are, however, powerless when substances are in your body.
• In recovery, we learn that it takes far more strength to surrender and admit powerlessness than it does to try to control addiction by ourselves.
• Recognizing your powerlessness over alcohol isn’t a sign of weakness but rather an acknowledgment of the addiction’s strength.
• This is the powerless aspect of the disease – I was powerless over whether I drank or used.
• It is not an excuse to continue in a destructive cycle because there’s nothing you can do about it.
• Our nationally accredited substance abuse detoxification & treatment center is one of the most highly respected programs in the country.

What are the 12 Steps of AA?

We in recovery are accustomed to living at the extremes of all or nothing. Many of us prove our worth by managing everything and everyone but not ourselves. Even in sobriety, many of us tend not to respect our limitations and we pay too high a price accordingly. Even if you don’t believe in God, you can still undergo the AA first step.

Tips for Starting and Working Step 1 of AA

As a part of treatment at MARR, our clients complete a First Step Inventory, which includes examples of powerlessness and unmanageability from various areas of life. This assignment starts to create awareness of how this disease damages one’s life. When you lay it all out, you will see that you did not have control in those moments. When no alcohol or other chemicals bathe the addicted brain, its motivation to return to use is thwarted. The result is a chronic sense of need, restlessness, irritability, and discontent. Not feeding the beast does not make the beast disappear.

In Alanon they suggest that you detach with love from your drinker. They also suggest that you look after yourself and make a life that is separate and non-dependent on the drinker. Again, these are good survival strategies and we welcome them. Indeed, we would like to stress that we have https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a lot of respect for the Alanon fellowship for the people that it has helped over the decades. Looking back on my own drinking history, at least what I remember of it, I can see this phenomenon at work. But most of the time, once my lips touched whiskey, I’d drink like a thirsty dolphin.

In our book, anything that removes the guilt and shame that people living with an alcoholic feel is a good thing. But I am powerless over drugs and alcohol when I put them in my body. How does AA Step 1 help you continue with the remaining steps? When you’re able to accept the fatal progression of your alcohol use disorder, you can’t continue living in denial.

List of Examples of Powerlessness in Sobriety