Jul 27
when ppl in alcoholics anonymous admit they’re powerless,aren’t they saying it’s not their fault if they fail?
ALCOHOLISM ADDICTION Add comments
Question by kelleygaither2000: when ppl in alcoholics anonymous admit they’re powerless,aren’t they saying it’s not their fault if they fail?
shouldn’t a person who admits they’re addicted to something take responsibility for said addiction,and work actively towards not failing?
as a recovering alcoholic, the most empowering thing i’ve done,after admitting i have an addiction,is admit that whether i succeed or fail is soley in my hands.
Best answer:
Answer by Scooby
Yes
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Tags: admit, Alcoholics, Anonymous, fail, fault, It's, powerlessaren't, saying, their, they, they're
To add to the yes, yes really it is… It’s derived from religion though, you’re supposed to give yourself up and accept a greater power’s help.
No, thats not what they’re saying. What that means is the addiction is much stronger which makes them powerless to give up. In other words the addiction is in full control. However after working at abstaining and maintaining sobriety you have a better chance of staying sober.
If one took responsibility for an addiction or disease, then in fact one would be saying we have control over being afflicted with it and we do not. We are powerless over alcohol, over others behaviour, over outcomes, over heart attacks ect. Does this make it clearer for you to understand? It is not solely in your hands by no means. Yes, we do what we can to not go down that same path but the outcome again is not in our hands. If it was everyone would recover from all diseases and nothing would happen to us ever again, which is not the case for some people. Ex: I can do what I can to not drink, I can do what I can to insure I will not have another heart attack, but this does not mean it will never happen again & to think in this manner is arrogance. One can call it fate, or nature or God, but all outcome lies within these, not ourselves. For an alcoholic to say they will never drink again is to set themselves up for a huge fall.. We don’t drink for one day only and for many that is more than enough. We again do what we can and leave the rest in Gods hands.
It is all in how you read the first step. To me, the first step of admitting you have a problem and are powerless over your addiction and compulsion is simply stating how you “have become” due to the abuse of alcohol, drugs, etc. It does not mean that you are powerless to change. At least that’s how I interpret it. Congratulations on your recovery. I, too am a recovering alcoholic and have been sober for about 10 yrs. now. I wish you all the best!
I think admitting that you are powerless is meant to be applied to other people’s actions, not your own.
Sometimes people with addiction problems tend to feel that because they have adopted a new attitude and are “responsible” for their actions that others should also do this. You cant make anybody else do anything, including adopt your newly learned values; therefore you must accept that you are powerless to control others. Your new values and lessons are yours and yours alone.
Step 1 of 12 step model is:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Once we acknowledge that someone else’s drinking has affected our lives, we may want to blame everything on the drinking. We are sure there must be something more we can say or do that will convince the alcoholic to stop drinking, thus resolving our problems. We have no idea that we are as powerless over alcohol as the alcoholic is. Not understanding that alcoholism is a disease, many of us have tried to take things into our own hands. We may have poured out liquor, made excuses, nagged, pleaded, protected or punished the drinkers in our lives. We may have hidden our feelings, isolated and avoided contact with the alcoholic, thinking our problems would go away. Alcoholism is a family disease. This means “… the alcoholism of one member affects the whole family, and all become sick. Why does this happen? Unlike diabetes, alcoholism not only exists inside the body of the alcoholic, but is a disease of relationships as well. Many of the symptoms of alcoholism are in the behavior of the alcoholic. The people who are involved with the alcoholic react to his behavior. They try to control it, make up for it, or hide it. They often blame themselves for it and are hurt by it. Eventually they become emotionally disturbed themselves.”
The idea of “powerlessness” in Step 1 and the disease concept are attractive because it removes the responsibility of becoming addicted. “It’s not my fault. even though it was me who drank in large enough quantities over a long enough period of time to become addicted.
Steps 2 & 3 put the responsibility on God. As an atheist, internalizing the first step meant that my choices were to return to drinking or suicide. Of course, had I been truly powerless, hoe could I have made the decision to quit drinking in the first place?
It wasn’t until I turned my back on AA, took responsibility for my addiction that I could take responsibility for my recovery.
If that was the ONLY step in a 12 step program there would be a problem.
For some people drinking is symptom of a bigger problem that we have no power over. Like family history of drinking, cycle of abuse ect. Even if a person doesn’t drink the problem is still there. It makes it easier to not turn to drugs and alcohol when one reaches out and gets help to come to terms with the demons of their past.