Learn What Spiritual Malady Is And The Role It Plays In Your Recovery

Threat brings about adaptive physiology and behaviors that prevent sociality and spirituality, but serve us well in a defense. Chronic threat brings about maladaptive chronic physiology and behaviors that over time increase our illness and disease burden. A spiritual malady, then, reduces to a sense of otherness felt by many alcoholics that prevents them from feeling at peace with themselves and the world around them. The role of physical dependence and psychological addiction in alcoholism partly explain why those with alcohol use disorder are unable to moderate or discontinue use. To initiate a full and sustained recovery, it is also helpful to address the spiritual role of this disease. Today’s guide explores the spiritual malady meaning in the context of 12-step recovery groups like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous).

Evolving Spiritually

They may anticipate a sensational event that will forever change their lives, permanently elevating them above the routine din of the daily grind, and giving them the secret to ongoing happiness. The summation of physical threats, spiritual threats, shadow threats, and existential threat is our total threat load. A chronically high total threat load will lead to maladaptive physiology and maladaptive behavior, and will lead to illness and disease—both physical and spiritual. We have to be aware of this phenomenon in everything we do and we have to be willing to look directly at this reality to be aware and correct course.

• The physical allergy is the concept that once a drink or a drug enters the body of an individual with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or substance use disorder (SUD), they cannot stop.
• Another way to address the spiritual malady and heal in Glenwood Springs is to connect to some of its amazing recovery communities.

Contact Your First Step’s National Hotline

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. I want to make clear to members that these thoughts are not definitive treatise on the subjects. Just an attempt to stimulate thought or discussion and provide information based on my study and experience.

Understanding the ‘Three-Fold Illness’

Following this program will cause them to feel less alone or closed off from the messages of life, thus relieving them from the burden of isolation. Addicts and alcoholics may rid themselves of their drug or alcohol dependency by completing the Twelve Step process. This will allow them to undergo the required shift in thought that will free them from their addiction. This is due to the fact that addiction is really a spiritual disorder. Although the disease has biological, behavioral, and psychological roots, treating those aspects, without including the spiritual component,  is like sticking a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. This resistance to anything spiritual is the biggest obstacle some addicts confront.

We will try to fill this god-sized hole with anything we can. Regardless of how it manifests itself, a spiritual malady is always rooted in an inner conflict. This inner conflict can be caused by many different things, such as childhood trauma, unresolved grief, or trauma related to addiction.

• As overwhelming as I’m sure this all may seem for someone who’s either never had a spiritual connection, or been disconnected for years, I’d like to assure you it’s not as formidable as it may seem.
• To anyone currently struggling with addiction, you are probably already aware that you’re deeply entrenched in a spiritual malady.
• Although the disease has biological, behavioral, and psychological roots, treating those aspects, without including the spiritual component,  is like sticking a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
• This is because many people have had negative experiences with various religions or religious concepts in their youth.

As you grow in your sobriety and learn more about yourself, you may find that your concept of a Higher Power changes as well. The most important thing is that you keep an spiritual malady open mind and heart as you continue on your sobriety journey. In sobriety, it is so important to maintain conscious contact with a higher power and count our blessings.

But the beauty of the 12-steps is that they are spiritually based as opposed to religious. What that means is that all that is required is the belief in a power greater than yourself. There is no church you must attend or strict practices you must adhere to in organized worship of said higher power, it is a completely individual and personal experience. 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.

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Being spiritually maladapted can come from a lack of gratitude. We must live our lives selflessly and show our gratitude to a higher power for the lives that we live and the opportunity to have a second chance at life. Anxiousness, depression, and boredom are a few other factors that contribute to being spiritually maladapted. We would use drugs and alcohol to deal with these issues.

What Constitutes a Spiritual Awakening?

Both phenotypes are helpful for survival, but long-term defense states are ultimately destructive to us. These traits defy written or verbal description, as they convey an innate understanding of the cosmos and are also transient, meaning the experiences do not last forever. Also, they are passive, in the sense that people do not have an influence over the phenomenon. Below is an overview of the 12 admissions that support the 12 steps toward recovery. As a result of this thought process, the spiritual illness they’re up against is at the core of their addiction.

Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me. The physical allergy is the concept that once a drink or a drug enters the body of an individual with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or substance use disorder (SUD), they cannot stop. Now, the inability to stop drinking or using is the allergy part. Someone who is allergic to shellfish will never be affected by it as long as they do not eat shellfish. Yes, the “allergy” is still there, but one will never be affected as long as they never take that first drink or drug. This is where the concept of the spiritual malady comes in.