Post by Mark_LA on Apr 1, 2016 10:55:12 GMT -5
Do I think it's possible to live a sober life without spirituality? Yes, absolutely -- for some people. For others, perhaps not. The point is, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Humans vary, and their experiences fall on a spectrum or distribution curve, not into neat yes-or-no categories.
Near one end of the "spirituality spectrum" are those people who experience alcohol addiction primarily as a behavioral disorder. Fix the behavior, fix the malady. They simply say, "I will never drink again and I will never change my mind," (another way of saying "JFDI," I suppose) and they move on with their lives. Programs such as Rational Recovery and SMART are a good fit for them, and can give them the help they need to change their behavioral patterns on a long-term basis.
Near the other end of the spectrum are those who require something more along the lines of the "spiritual solution" set forth in AA in order to recover. Nothing less than a complete psychic change will be effective in removing the compulsion to drink and the mental obsession surrounding it.
My observation is that a combination of nature and nurture determines where on this spectrum an individual will fall. The more inherent predisposition to alcoholism there is, and the longer active alcoholic drinking is allowed to progress, the more likely it is that a radical type of spiritual solution will be the only viable path to recovery.
For myself, I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't think I could have recovered on behavioral modification alone. My psyche needed a major overhaul. However, I was able to accomplish this without rigorous devotion to the AA program. Applying the general principles underlying the 12 Steps to my daily life in a casual sort of way seems to be enough.
The longer I participate in recovery, the more I see things as being nuanced and in shades of gray, rather than black and white. That includes my perception of how much "spirituality" is required for recovery.
Near one end of the "spirituality spectrum" are those people who experience alcohol addiction primarily as a behavioral disorder. Fix the behavior, fix the malady. They simply say, "I will never drink again and I will never change my mind," (another way of saying "JFDI," I suppose) and they move on with their lives. Programs such as Rational Recovery and SMART are a good fit for them, and can give them the help they need to change their behavioral patterns on a long-term basis.
Near the other end of the spectrum are those who require something more along the lines of the "spiritual solution" set forth in AA in order to recover. Nothing less than a complete psychic change will be effective in removing the compulsion to drink and the mental obsession surrounding it.
My observation is that a combination of nature and nurture determines where on this spectrum an individual will fall. The more inherent predisposition to alcoholism there is, and the longer active alcoholic drinking is allowed to progress, the more likely it is that a radical type of spiritual solution will be the only viable path to recovery.
For myself, I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't think I could have recovered on behavioral modification alone. My psyche needed a major overhaul. However, I was able to accomplish this without rigorous devotion to the AA program. Applying the general principles underlying the 12 Steps to my daily life in a casual sort of way seems to be enough.
The longer I participate in recovery, the more I see things as being nuanced and in shades of gray, rather than black and white. That includes my perception of how much "spirituality" is required for recovery.
