What really is this “spiritual malady” and how, if left untreated, can it drive an alcoholic back to drinking?.Two key points I’d like to focus on from this point forward: Our book promises us that “When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.” The mental and physical factors of alcoholism are put into remission AFTER the “spiritual malady” is overcome - which means I’m still in danger of drinking until I have a spiritual awakening - whether I think so or not. simply refers to this “inward unmanageability” as “the spiritual malady.” Some refer to it as “untreated alcoholism.” Others use the term “bedevilments”, which comes from page 52 of the Big Book (which I’ll be discussing in a moment). There are many names for this “inward unmanageability”. The unmanageability that the 1st Step is pointing to is the INWARD unmanageability of our lives - the restlessness, irritability, and discontentment that most alcoholics have even BEFORE they ever picked up their first drink. Of course those things can be classified as “unmanageability” - but they are external unmanageability. Now, let me attempt to discuss the second half of Step 1: ” - that our lives had become unmanageable.”įor a long time I thought my life was unmanageable because of all the crazy insane things I did while drinking - like the car accidents, hurting people when I didn’t mean to, failed relationships, loss of jobs, family dysfunction, jails, asylums, etc.įinally, 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. Through closely examining our Big Book, along with much experience and practice with our Twelve Steps, as well as vigorous work with other alcoholics, the “missing piece” of Step 1 appears to be what is referred to on page 64 as the “spiritual malady.” So why is it that after a long period of sobriety many people in our fellowship return to drinking - EVEN WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO? What is the third fold of our illness that triggers the mental obsession - WHEN NOT DRINKING - HAVING BEEN SEPARATED FROM ALCOHOL FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME? And, if you’ve been in the AA Fellowship for a while, for most people, the mental obsession dissipates. We know the physical craving does not cause these people to drink because it’s been medically proven that after a few days of not drinking the alcohol is processed out of the body. It is agreed that the “mental obsession” is the part of our “disease” which leads to the first drink and it’s the first drink that triggers the “phenomenon of craving.” But, what about the part of my “disease” that triggers the mental obsession in the first place? Why is it that people who have remained abstinent from drinking in Alcoholics Anonymous for 1 year… 2 years… 5 years… 10 years… and in some cases even 20 years or more, go back to drinking? And when I’m stone cold sober, at my very best, the thought will occur to me to take a drink - or sometimes I think very little about it or not at all, and I come to out of a blackout after having experienced what page 42 refers to as a “strange mental blank spot.” And of course this vicious cycle of my mind continuously taking me back to a drink and my body dooming me to not drink like “normal” people puts me in a senseless series of sprees and it makes it virtually impossible to stop. When you ask them to describe what they mean by that statement, they seem to have a firm grasp on the fact that we alcoholics suffer from “an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind” - that once I put any alcohol in my system whatsoever it sets off a craving for more alcohol. ![]() We often hear people say something like, “I have a three-fold disease: body, mind, and spirit.” Now I’d like to talk about a part of our “disease” which is seldom discussed in meetings nowadays: the “spiritual malady.” We’ve used pages 23 – 43 to help us experience how we’ve been powerless mentally. We’ve discussed, studied, and internalized material from the “Doctor’s Opinion” to page 23 to see how we’re powerless over alcohol bodily. “Carry THIS Message” Group, West Orange, NJįrom “The Doctor’s Opinion” to the end of “More About Alcoholism” the Big Book discusses the first part of Step 1, which states, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol”.
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