Furthermore, it gave me the opportunity to wake up to the reality of the disease of addiction. Alcohol and drugs act as the kryptonite, Achilles heel, or fatal weakness, of every abnormal drinker and drug user. Powerlessness was our personal experience and the insight we reached after countless times of trying to moderate or quit. The accountability and encouragement in meetings and therapy break the power of secrecy where addiction thrives. It helps foster accountability and is a profound place of support. What happens in a group of people admitting powerlessness over addiction is a power in itself.

• Six hours later, the bar is closing as fast as your consciousness.
• I have the power to choose not to abuse substances.
• Bunmi is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a concentration in Human Services.
• We’ve had good reasons to quit for good, and we continued drinking or using drugs anyway.
• You might be avoiding taking the first step toward recovery due to myths and misunderstandings surrounding AA and its steps.

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. Many 12-Step programs are well-known groups powerless over alcohol that use the concept of powerlessness to benefit recovery. The Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book says “powerless over alcohol” as its first principle. AA members believe they cannot control their drinking without the help of a higher power. This belief is what gives them hope and helps them stay sober.

List of Examples of Powerlessness in Sobriety

Someone suffering from this disease did not make a choice to go too far and lose control, and they are not inherently lacking in values or good character. A crucial part of completing AA Step one revolves around admitting powerlessness.

The self-awareness that comes with realizing how bad things are and how damaging the substance abuse has been is how you can start to desire a better future for yourself. Once we become comfortable admitting our powerlessness, how do we go about reclaiming our power? First, we have to understand that we will never be able to control our drinking or our drugging – we will always be powerless over chemical substances if we start using them again. We can reclaim power over alcohol and other drugs, but we need to understand that in order to do so, we can never safely pick them up. As soon as we do get sober, we will also regain power over our own lives. We will no longer be slaves to chemical substances, living our lives to drink and to drug and to die.

If I admit powerlessness over alcohol and drugs, how does that help me recover from addiction?

We integrate the community into this exercise as well. Clients get feedback from their community members, which allows them to be both challenged and supported. Become aware of the six characteristics of alcoholism. Vanessa is a Montgomery County native who spends her free time traveling with her daughter and volunteering in the community.

Yet that’s precisely what the fellowship ofAlcoholics Anonymoussuggests. I’d been involved in the sober community on and off for years. Yet I’d never heard someone with 20+ years summarize powerlessness so elegantly. Mark joined the medical team at The Freedom Center in September 2018 as the Medical Director. He received his medical degree in Mexico with further certification from Rutgers Medical School in New Jersey.

Addiction and Mental Health Resources

The entire idea of recovery and sobriety begins here. For example, alcoholics Anonymous programs say that those who still believe they have control over their drinking will drink again. Only when you surrender control will you be on your way to mastering step one of the 12 steps. Clearly, the founders of AA had something different in mind when they enshrined admitting powerlessness as the first step.

• Self-empowerment pitches are misguided when the target audience includes chronic drinkers and drug users, all of whom already suffer the hallmarks of powerlessness.
• Step 1 of AA acknowledges the need for members to hit rock bottom to understand alcohol addiction’s destructive nature.
• Step one encompasses the total and utter powerlessness found in the depths of the disease of addiction.
• When alcoholism begins to take control of a family, usually one of the first things to go is honesty.
• We have good reasons for saying this, as we explain below.
• The mental obsession and physical cravings increase after the first drink, causing the person to drink more.

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. Spero Recovery Center is a peer-based residential recovery program.