Step 1: Powerlessness & Unmanageability

Step 1: Powerlessness & Unmanageability

So, before we claim that our addictions have not caused our lives to become unmanageable, we must really think about our lives. Negative consequences can be blocked by denial (as in the story above) or ignored. That’s the cunning and baffling nature of the disease of addiction. Years ago, I was working with another addict and asked her how her addiction had impacted her physically.

Steps To Overcoming Powerlessness

Powerlessness is a feeling that comes from not having control over something important in our lives. We can feel powerless over our addiction, our mental health, our relationships, or our finances. Powerlessness is a normal and human response to stress, but it can also alcohol rehab be a sign of depression or anxiety.

What Does It Mean to Be Powerless Over Alcohol and Other Drugs?

I’m less likely to swirl down in a shame spiral and more available to be honest with my friends and family. When control is underlying our attempt at surrender, the incongruence becomes more painful then the reality we are attempting to avoid. When we have to disavow aspects of ourselves in order to connect, that’s not real connection.

So What Is the First Step Asking For?

Admitting powerlessness in sobriety can empower you to get the help and support you need to manage your life. Ambrosia Treatment Center of South Florida is here to help those who struggle with addiction. To learn more, visit our rehab admissions page today.

Because the journey to sobriety is full of forward steps and backward ones, it may be necessary for some people to return to this step multiple times. The path to recovery is rarely a straight https://ecosoberhouse.com/ line, but a series of twists and turns. You may be powerless over the effects of substance abuse, but choosing to be better every day is where that power returns. The impact of drugs and alcohol on your body over time renders your natural brain functions and mechanisms powerless.

• Worldwide, alcoholics, addicts and treatment professionals embraced the Twelve Steps, and more than 35 million copies of AA’s Big Book have been distributed in over 70 languages.
• Without such clear and direct feedback, I was left in this terrible limbo, which had me feeling like I was far too exposed and potentially “doing it wrong.” There was no room for a process.
• Like Newton’s Third Law of Motion states “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” My addictions like others had consequences that often-made life difficult.
• And that, as we have seen, leads to serenity, freedom, and ultimately–in a process that’s totally outside of our control–power.
• By honestly confronting your powerlessness and the unmanageability that addiction has brought into your life, you’re taking a courageous step toward a brighter future.
• It’s not easy to admit this, but if we don’t accept that we are powerless, then we won’t be able to move forward.

• Your life is too sacred and too precious for you to live in the shadow of self sabotage.
• Reflections on how life became unmanageable both the first time I came into AA and this most recent time.
• As stated earlier, powerlessness doesn’t mean that the addict is a weak individual as a whole.
• We had made room for a true Higher Power, one in which we could eventually place our faith and trust.
• Eventually, however, they begin to realize that their drug use is making their emotional life much worse and begins to actually control their feelings.

This is different from the inability to manage one’s life, which is what most people think of when they hear the word unmanageable. In fact, many people who struggle with addiction feel like they have little power over their disease but still want to change. It may seem like admitting powerlessness is giving up, but the exact opposite is true. Powerlessness isn’t meant to lead to hopelessness, but rather to a greater sense of hope and agency in your life.

thoughts on “Step 1: Powerlessness & Unmanageability”

I am stubborn and have always had to learn things the hard way. This road has been painful, embarrassing and oft times humiliating, but it has given me the greatest rewards and what I would consider a blessed life. Just because you feel powerless and helpless doesn’t mean you actually are. This happens because when we get scared, we get tunnel vision, said New York City psychologist Lauren Appio, Ph.D.

But powerlessness is not the same thing as weakness; it isn’t something to be feared or despised. It also is not a lack of agency that implies we are helpless powerless over alcohol when it comes to choosing between right and wrong. I’ve had to “grow-up out-loud” in the rooms of recovery. Every mistake I made before I became sober I’ve replayed and created sequels for while in recovery.

Help for Alcoholics

• It’s as though my sex addiction is a tiny country, and there is a whole world left to explore.
• In fact, Step One is an essential part of your recovery.
• The hold that “things” have had over my life was totally debilitating and all consuming.
• I may be sober for 3 months, 6 months, a year, even longer, but if I’m still angry, defensive, procrastinating, blaming, shaming, etc.
• That brings us to the third stop on this road to spiritual development.

It denies the reality of all the other unsuccessful attempts you’ve made to stop as a result of major consequences. Another way to overcome powerlessness is to get involved in your own treatment. Take an active role in choosing the treatment that you want to receive. Ask questions and get as much information as you can about your options. The more you know about your treatment, the more control you will feel over your life.

“The first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.”

The truth is recovery introduces us to who we are and allows us to live the lives we were meant to live. Understanding powerless, that I had no choice, changed my life. It wasn’t until I had a full understanding of this word that my spiritual journey really was able to begin.