12 Step Addiction Recovery

These past few months we have been studying “Addiction Recovery Program, a Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing,” in church.  I wondered about this choice but as we have continued to read and study, I’ve realized that we all have addictions.  Some of our addictions are more dangerous than others, but nevertheless, we are addicted.

Some people consider addictions to be simply bad habits that can be conquered by willpower alone, but many people become so dependent on a behavior or substance that they no longer see how to abstain from it.  They lose perspective and a sense of other priorities in their lives.  Nothing matters more than satisfying their desperate need.  When they try to abstain, they experience powerful physical, psychological, and emotional cravings.  As they habitually make wrong choices they find their ability to choose the right diminished or restricted.  As President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:  “Addiction has the capacity to disconnect the human will and nullify moral agency.  It can rob one of the power to decide. (Ensign, Nov. 1989)

Addictions can include the use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea, and drugs and behaviors such as gambling codependency, viewing pornography, inappropriate sexual behavior, and disorders associated with each.  These substances and behaviors diminish a person’s ability to feel the Spirit.  They harm physical and mental health and social, emotional and spiritual well-being.  Herein is the problem.  When we cannot feel the promptings of the spirit we are left to make many of our decisions and we will not accomplish the many things that our Heavenly Father has planned for us. 

The twelve step program includes:

 

Honesty

2.      Hope

3.      Trust in God

4.      Truth

5.      Confession

6.      Change of heart

7.      Humility

8.      Seeking forgiveness

9.      Restitution and Reconciliation

10.  Daily Accountability

11.  Personal Revelation

12.  Service

Periodically I would like to write about my experiences with these steps.  I think they are extremely important to incorporate in our lives.  Someday, I hope my thoughts and feelings on all of this will be beneficial to someone.