Addiction Treatment and Your Health Coverage

If you are interested in knowing more about how the Affordable Care Act has changed here is a resource that tells the Insurance side of Addiction. This quote is direct from the publisher:

Our resource provides information on your healthcare rights when it comes to addiction treatment and how changes with the Affordable Care Act have changed insurance coverage. 

We believed that this was an important topic to cover because while addiction affects nearly 24 million people over the age of 12, only 11.2% of those individuals receive treatment from a private facility (SAMHSA, 2009). A likely reason attributed to that low percentage is that it's not uncommon for private recovery facilities to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The resource can be found here:

http://www.insurancequotes.org/health-insurance/health-resources/addiction-treatment-coverage/.

*Addiction Resources from InsuranceQuote.com

NOTE FROM ADDICTSHUNS:
Please be wise when selecting Insurance programs in regards to your health and well being. Most of all there are free programs, such as A.A., that have proven methods in the area of overcoming addiction of any type, and can supplement and complete any facility treatment programs. Just use your head!

bjb

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My Own Prison

Hows your thought life?

prisons often exist in our own minds. limiting thoughts, self deprecating voices keep us locked up inside unable to move at times. funny thing about these 'mind prisons' is that there are no bars or walls. Even if you were in a prison or locked into circumstances you don't like, this can be changed.

the key out is to change your thought. if you just accept and believe everything you think, hear or say, it keeps you in prison. It is the way you handle the negative thoughts and temptations that makes a huge difference in your life. just because you think something doesn't always make it real. it is time for honest and true critical thinking. a mind prison can be solved with changing the way you think, rather than caving into "I can't...'" or feelings of despair and being overwhelmed. 

is it time to clean out and up those influences in your life?
freeing yourself from a mind prison is dependent on what you allow into your thinking through TV, books, music and the friends you keep. if what you hear on a daily basis doesn't give you peace of mind, then it's time to have some deep thought cleaning. 

try a radical thought turnaround. for one whole day write down everything you think. just write it down, no matter. even the tv, music and friends you listen to. record the constant thoughts, themes and ideas.

for day two: take that list of thoughts and compile them into negative (or positive). write those into a new list on the left column. then on the right column, write the exact opposite if it's a pattern of negativity. 

lastly, find a quote or scripture verse or something that is different than the negative thought and memorize it, write it out on your mirror, on papers and think on that instead of the negative ones. "I can't stop this madness" becomes "I have self control, peace of mind, and am calm." or whatever feels natural to you. 

Make your thought garden one of flowers and vegetables that nourish your mind and soul. Pull the weeds of bad thoughts out the moment you hear it break ground in your mind. 



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Support Addiction Recovery

 

Support Addiction Recovery with Good Nutrition and Exercise

by Lisa Felding 

According to the most recent large-scale study, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009, 23.5 million people needed treatment for drug or alcohol abuse. That’s 9.3% of people over the age of 12. Of those people, only 2.6 million received treatment at an addiction recovery facility. Nearly 90%, therefore, aren’t getting this specialized help. Any person who is recovering from an addiction needs as much support as possible, and this is especially true for someone who is trying to beat the addiction without help from a recovery facility.

One way to support efforts towards recovering from an addiction is by focusing not just on breaking the addiction cycle, but also on replacing the unhealthy behavior patterns with new healthy ones, such as nutrition and exercise. This helps the addict start to focus on positive reasons for pursuing recovery, provides a framework for promoting a return to healthier habits, and gives the recovering addict something tangible they can do to improve their health on their own.

Addiction and Nutrition

The added benefit of such a goal is that many addicts have nutritionally poor diets to begin with. Coupled with the physical impact of addiction itself, poor health is a common feature of addiction. Even if the diet is reasonably healthy, the physical toll of addiction, which can include tissue inflammation and organ dysfunction, means that nutrients are not adequately absorbed from food, or properly stored in the body. Whether or not the diet is healthy, a person with an addiction is therefore likely to suffer from nutrient deficiencies that, in conjunction with the physical consequences of addiction, can ultimately lead to muscle wasting, high blood pressure and cholesterol, gastrointestinal and digestion problems, cardiovascular stress, and central nervous system dysfunction. For these reasons, it is extremely beneficial to make nutritional goals part of a treatment plan for alcoholism or any other addiction. Adding regular exercise into the mix is also highly beneficial.

Good Nutrition Helps the Addicted Body Heal

A person who is just beginning to recover from addiction might suffer from any or all of the following nutrition-related problems: 

• Low blood sugar, leading to fatigue, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and poor adrenal gland function
• Inability to properly absorb nutrients
• Depletion of neurotransmitters in the brain
• Sensitivity to certain foods, such as wheat, sugar, corn, or dairy products
• Deficiency in protein, vitamins, and minerals

Avoiding processed foods, and replacing these with several servings a day of fresh fruit and vegetables, allows the body to start getting all the nutrients it needs to recover from these issues. For example, hypoglycemia—low blood sugar—is a common problem for recovering addicts, and alcoholics in particular, since many alcohols are rich in sugar. This can contribute to mood disorders that in turn can increase the likelihood that a recovering addict will relapse. Eating regular nutritionally-rich meals with small amounts of whole, unrefined carbohydrates, along with protein and healthy fats, helps to control blood sugar levels and improve mood stability—which might help stave off a relapse.

Another reason that a healthy diet helps the body recover from addiction is that some minerals—in particular, calcium and magnesium—can reduce the severity of cravings and addiction-related stress. Nervousness and irritability are heightened in people who are deficient in calcium or magnesium, because these minerals are essential for healthy central nervous system function. When the body is deficient in these minerals, it reduces a person’s ability to cope with stress, and in a recovering addict this ability is often already stretched to the limit.

The Benefits of Exercise

Starting an exercise program is another good way to reinforce the positive reasons for giving up an addiction. The benefits of regular exercise are well-documented, and when it comes to addiction recovery, are even more important. Cardiovascular exercise is, for example, a great way to reduce stress, by burning off excess adrenaline and other anxiety-inducing chemicals that the body produces. As well as this, it can help promote restful sleep, therefore helping to combat the insomnia that is a common feature of addiction recovery. Insomnia is completely normal for a recovering addict, but it can be very distressing, and stressful, for a newly-sober individual. Exercise can also help rebuild muscle mass and improve cardiovascular health, both of which are often impaired in addicts.

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Someone You Know is an Addict

Someone You Know is an Addict

It’s estimated that approximately one in five people are born with an addictive personality - meaning they are vulnerable to becoming addicted to a substance or behavior.  This means that there is an excellent chance that someone you know - a friend or family member - is suffering, perhaps secretly, with an addiction problem.

The most serious cases end with the death or suicide or the victim.

This article is part of a campaign by Addictions UK to help addicts, all around the world. Read on to find out how you can offer your support. 

Understanding Addiction

The rapid growth of the Internet in recent years has seen the rise of new addiction problems, including Facebook addiction, online pornography addiction, online gambling addiction, and even Internet addiction.  

Although the word “addiction” is used to mean many different things, what we’re talking about here is more accurately described as “pathological dependence” - a flaw in the brain chemistry that creates an overwhelming and escalating urge to engage in a certain kind of behavior, even if the person knows that their actions are hurting them and they’re desperate to stop.

The condition of addiction can be easier to understand when compared to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  An OCD sufferer may be aware that, logically, there is no need to repeatedly wash their hands until they’re raw and bleeding, but the compulsion is so strong that they’re powerless to stop.  

Similarly, an online gambling addict may be racked with guilt because, once again, they’ve spent the grocery money on online poker, but no matter what they try, they cannot gain control of their behavior.

Worse still, when an addict’s compulsive behavior is of a type that is considered socially unacceptable, it’s common to hide the problem and try to tackle it privately.  This usually only results in the problem becoming more deeply entrenched.

Treatment is Available

The first step to successfully tacking addiction is education.  The addict may have come to the conclusion that they are a wicked person who is beyond redemption, but learning that their troubling actions are symptoms of an illness that afflicts millions of other people, many of whom have been successfully treated, can rekindle their hope and create a burning desire to obtain treatment.

Talking to a doctor can help; they may be able to recommend a local addiction treatment program.  Alternatively, private treatment can be obtained (see below). The most important thing is for the addict to recognize that they have a dependency problem and that they cannot enter recovery without professional help.

How You Can Help

At the beginning of this article, we said that there is a strong chance that a friend of family member is suffering, maybe in silence, but that there is a way you can help.

There’s little point in trying to guess who may or not be affected. Addiction afflicts all different kinds of people, and often the person you least expect.

What you can do is help to put this article in front of as many different people as possible.  The more people that see this message, the more likely it is that it will reach someone who really needs it.

To show your support for this campaign, please do one or more of the following:

Share this article on Twitter and Facebook.

Go to  AddictonSuk and “Like” this page.

Place a link to  AddictionSuk:
"http://www.addictionsuk.com" 

www.addictionsuk.com or  

"http://www.facebook.com/addictionsuk" 

www.facebook.com/addictionsuk on your website.

Post a comment below this blog post.

"The Four Pillars of Recovery"

Does Addiction Rehab and Therapy Work?

From what I see with the friends and celebrities going in and out of it on a regular basis, apparently not. My close friend has seen it all and nothing has helped until now. She found a Dr with a program that actually works. Dr. John Vigil is caring for my friend now, and there are great strides of recovery for her like I've seen never before.

He has written the best explanation about Alcohol and Drug addiction I've ever read. His honesty and totally frank story about a lifetime struggle with addiction doesn't sugar coat any of the disasters that out of control addiction has in one's life including those closest to him. What turned my thinking around is  medical description about what happens with alcohol and substance abuse. He explained with great compassion and easy to understand medical terms, why people don't get better with conventional treatment. Reading his book, gave my search for answers answers to that question from someone who has seen both sides. 

I learned a greater compassion for addicts after reading his book. The clear cut path of "FOUR PILLARS OF RECOVERY" just might hold the key to anyone with an substance addiction gaining freedom from this disease. I am sharing his website, his information with you the readers, so you have a link to someone who knows what he's doing and lays a clear path for recovery.

Dr John Vigil of Albuquerque, NM authored a book on addiction and recovery titled "The Four Pillars of Recovery." It explains his comprehensive state-of-the art and evidence based care for drug and alcohol addiction and substance abuse disorders, including buprenorphine (Suboxone) office-based treatment for opiate addiction. Doctor on Call is an Albuquerque mental health clinic is run by a medical doctor specializing in addiction medicine.Dr. Vigil is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

CONTACT INFORMATION:Main WEBSITE: Doctor on Call Dr Vigil's Blog: HEALTH CARE REFORM BLOGDownload free brochure: Counseling Services and Behavioral Health

Whitney Houston, another Big Pharma victim?

Celebrities Lost

America’s most famous people have been dying from prescription drugs for decades. Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe quickly come to mind. But just as the epidemic has exploded on main street America, so too has it taken its toll among the nation’s most celebrated people. Here is just a brief list, from the past and the present, and the prescription drugs that killed them.
Below from PharmacyTechs.net and Wikipedia.comMarilyn Monroe (1962) – Pentobarbital, chloral hydrate
Dorothy Dandridge (1965) – Imipramine/Tofranil
Jimi Hendrix (1970) – Secobarbital/Seconal
Bruce Lee (1973) – Equagesic
Freddie Prinze (1977) – Methaqualone/Quaaludes
Elvis Presley (1977) - 14 drugs, including codeine, methaqualone/Quaaludes
Keith Moon (The Who) (1978) – Clomethiazole/Heminevrin
Abbie Hoffman (1989) – Phenobarbital
Steve Clark (Def Leppard) (1991) - Unspecified antidepressant and painkiller
Margaux Hemingway (1996) – Phenobarbital
Rob Pilatus (Milli Vanilli) (1998) – methadone
Dana Plato (1999) – Carisoprodol/Soma, Vicodin
Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Wu-Tang Clan) (2004) – Tramadol
Chris Penn (2006) – Promethazine, codeine
Gerald Levert (2006) – 6 drugs including Vicodin, Percocet, Dextropropoxyphene/Darvocet
Anna Nicole Smith (2007) - 11 drugs including chloral hydrate, clonazepam/Klonopin, lorazepam/Ativan, oxazepam/Serax, diazepam/Valium
Pimp C (Underground Kingz) (2007) – Promethazine, codeine
Heath Ledger (2008) - 6 drugs including oxycodone, hydrocodone, temazepam, diazepam/Valium, alprazolam/Xanax and doxylamine
Michael Jackson (2009) – propofol, benzodiazepine
Brittany Murphy (2009) – multiple drugs including hydrocodone, L-methamphetamine, chlorpheniramine
Leslie Carter (Nick/Aaron) (2012) – pending toxicology results
Whitney Houston (2012) – pending toxicology results
With all due love and affection for the above, it’s a shame it takes the death of a superstar to shine an always brief spotlight on the devastating effects of prescription drugs and their over-supply in this country. More than 40 regular Americans die from the same prescription drugs everyday.

NOTE: The clip above is from WHITEOUT PRESS Independent News at its Best! - If it's blacked-out, covered-up or censored, you can find it here.
Read the entire article here: Whitney Houston, another Big Pharma victim?




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AddictShuns: Two paths of choice

TWO PATHS:
There are two paths of choice given to each soul. Good or evil, blessings or curse, life abundant or life just barely making it. Fulfillment or insatiable addictions. The ancient call from Moses in Mt. Sinai's desert lands squarely in our face in modern times:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: Deuteronomy 30:18-20

Potential... Do you know yours? Do unfulfilled desires, spark against the mindful frozen places in life - when we are stuck? Sometimes we are filled with hope and promise, only to be squelched by fears, static doubt and slothfulness. There is a destiny for each of us, a plan for productive lives, blossoming gardens and time to prove life's bearing of goodness or destruction. A garden bearing fruit or one filled with rocks and briers. Often we have lived in both circumstance.

Some find their way becoming exactly what they want with all things falling in place. The devote their entire being with a single focus on their art, music, talents, skills and careers, despite obstacles they always aim towards their goals. Noticed or not, the pursuit of skillful productivity and honorable craft remain the heartbeat of their existence. Nothing pulls them away from that purpose. They master their profession rather than waste or divide time to useless, self-destructive activities.

Others fall in to the sludge of nothingness, held captive to past wounds and hurts, filled with anger, bitterness and self-pity that things didn't go "my way." They become lost in self-incriminating talk, mashing all the pain with fraudulent lifestyles filled with parties, self-indulgence no matter what the cost to those around them. They learn the art of deceit using words and looking good on the outside to connive people into their intentions. They numb their pain with superficial remedies in the form of addiction from drugs, to sex, to work, to food to whatever comforts them for the time being. It's really greed in the ugliest form. It all begins so easy with just one drink, one pill or glimpse. When hooked it's the exact path of the goodness only on the dark side. Every focus is to fill the bodies need for relief.  The path of addiction is actually the art of self deception leading to destruction. The substance of need becomes a wicked, relentless god.

Women Food and God
I read this book Women Food and God. It plowed through my own issues and pains, which doesn't happen very often. I understand that she writes about things that underlie any one's addictions and avoidance in overcoming obstacles in life. It's too bad it's title states Women and Food. I believe it is written for everyone.  The word 'Food' can be replaced by drugs, pills, smoking, pornography or whatever other vice one faces. It's worth the read. Getting to the root of any illness or disease is the first step towards healing.

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Women Food and God

more from her journal: Chapter 7

Chapter Seven & Eight available now! 


Click on the page tab called Lovin' an Addict,
you can read these chapters and the entire story!

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Addictshuns....
Occasionally I find articles in Christian circles regarding addiction. It's a topic well guarded and kept in classes called Celebrate Recovery. The main difference being that you recover rather than always calling yourself an addict, I would assume. I attended one Celebrate class for al-anon. Perhaps I should have tried it more than once, however the format never gave me pause to actually come back. If you ask me I'll tell why; but only in personal email. I would never discredit a place that helps so many others get well, it did not help me.

So today I found this article written by Steve and Kellie Swisher from Kenneth Copeland Ministries.. They give 6 great daily tips for those challenged with addictions. Worth a quick read!

 Here's a clip from the end of the article:

This attitude is described wonderfully in these words from Fred Bauer:

FOR QUIET--I LIKE UNSPEAKING TREES,
FOR CARES--A SPIRITED MOUNTAIN WALK,
FOR FULFILLMENT--SOMEONE TO PLEASE,
FOR LAUGHTER--HEARING CHILDREN TALK,
FOR REASSURANCE--A HAND TO HOLD
FOR STRENGTH--THE PERSEVERING SEA,
FOR UNDERSTANDING--A FRIENDSHIP OLD,
FOR HOPE, LORD, I TURN TO THEE.

Get Addicted to Something positive today and really live!

PRAYER:
Dear Lord, I am getting addicted to you, good thoughts are flooding my memory system, changes are being made, I can catch a glimpse of my fantastic future and it’s just over the rainbow.  Help me reach it.  In Jesus’ Name.          
Amen 

Shrink with Kevin Spacey

BACK FROM UPAID SABBATICAL
It's been too long since writing here. Addictshuns is not forgotten!

Last night I watched a movie called Shrink. Here's the Netflix synopsis:

In the wake of personal tragedy, Hollywood's psychiatrist to the stars (Kevin Spacey) devolves into a slovenly pothead and worries he's become incapable of helping his patients in a sharp indie drama from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

My interest in both addiction and psychology the core reason for this movie selection. I am not sure why I finished it. The FBomb exploded through the entire dialogue which is both annoying and offensive when overused in movies. Would that screenwriters wrote intelligent script without so many expletives.

My curiosity was about all these people entrenched in the clutch of drug & alcohol abuse, aimless parties, and sexual quirks to cover their pain and emptiness. This movie showed addiction at it's finest. The main characters all show up to the shrinks office for moral guidance and direction who is himself spiraling out of control with excessive pot smoking and alcohol. Did he really think patients and people around him couldn't smell it or notice red eyes? In spite of his smokey fog, he gave moralistic advice of of worthy note. He stood for the sanctity and commitment of marriage and didn't give permission for the sexual addicts desire for promiscuity.

Only two characters in the entire cast showed virtuous character, strong morally and without the influence of drugs. A young girl struggling with the suicide of her mother, and the wife of an addicted rock star. A third questionable one is a pregnant assistant carrying her sister's baby. Questionable due to the scene where she asks her new boyfriend to have sex with her in the car with a wanna be writer. Sort of creepy don't you think? Anyway, the boyfriend writer had enough sense to stop it and question the act of sex with a pregnant women.

While celebrity life style glamorizes wild and raucous living, the consequence of these choices were obvious through out the movie. The slice of life in Hollywood shows abuse of drugs and alcohol begets   suicide, personality disorders which begets lives reeling without restraint. It's an accurate description of Hollywood, and the greatest influence on culture in America today. This movies plays it out well.

In the end the shrink gains his moral compass, deals with his hurt, guilt and pain and quits his vices. The light in his life during his devolution is a little girl whose mother committed suicide. She called him out in his addiction several times. They had the same secret wounds, as he struggled to reach her, he may have found himself. His drug vendor with neatly labeled and encased varieties of pot sold him weed called Christmas in Viet Nam. They both smoked it not knowing it was laced with embalming fluids, ending up in the ER. The woman actress found him near dead. She is another light in his life.

The one interesting scene is the failed intervention put together from friends and family who care and want relief from his addiction. He turned it all back on them, explaining his pain. What he wanted was absolution from a hidden pain and guild in his soul. That is something they didn't see. Reflective of a culture in denial and a blinding reaction to fix external problems while ignoring the real true source. As in every case of addiction, and in this movie there is no remedy. Unless the source of the wounding life episode is brought to light, with a lie exposed until the truth is applied can one find redemption in their life. In the end, the Shrink heals his wounds and rebuilds his life.

The consequence in abusive use of drugs and alcohol is a cry for help as well a slow and often sudden death. Just read the list of the 27 CLUB. Few on this path of destruction ever survive or taste anything good in this life. Finding the reason, hidden wounds and lies believed is the only way to freedom.

Those who love the addict often see just the symptoms, rarely seeing or inviting the reasons. We clip at the surface trying to fix and change when only the addict themselves can take the first step with total transparency. For me, prayer and love covers those broken hearts until at last they are free to unburden their pain.

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20 Secret Signs of Addiction

20 Secret Signs of Addiction

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Admission | Confession | Resolution

ADMISSION

I am not an addict. I never pretended to be an addict nor do I profess to know what it’s like to be a drunk or drug addict.  I am not expert by any means on the topic of addiction. I only lived with addicts all my life.  For a very short season, I experimented with alcohol, drugs losing myself there, until it bit me like snake recoiled in wrath. My mother dragged me to a Christian Retreat for one week at age 17 and I was rescued from life long substance abuse by the new birth given by Jesus. By God’s intervention, I avoided what generational addiction dictated, with His grace and quit it all before it took root. Back in those days alcoholism and drug addiction wasn’t a public service notice, ad on TV or even spoken of. It wasn’t on the airwaves, only a whisper for help in the darkness by families suffering from the fall out. We simply didn’t talk about “that” to each other.

ADDICTION

Recently through a tangled conversation with a recovering alcoholic, it was pointed out that I had no business writing about addiction or the 12 steps. It began a normal congenial exchange then suddenly after reading I wasn’t an addict, it became ugly. Accusations flew as with a baseball bat from intensive emails. All tainted in self-righteous lamenting, that I was arrogant to think I can understand anything about addiction.

My site, my blog, my thoughts were clobbered by this person. My reaction at first was unbelief. I was taken by surprise. What land mine did I step on to deserve this? Trying humility, I asked how to make it better and what needed to change. I was open to learn and gain insight. My attempts to smooth and explain myself only fueled the fire of obvious misplaced anger. Anger begets anger, so words coming from my end tried to be calm, peaceful and reasonable. I admit to my feathers becoming quite ruffled, yet censored my own annoyance at the insensitivity of it all.

CONFESSION

My true response was deep hurt. Rejection and abuse from yet another addict who misunderstood me. It unseated so many of my own “secret” unresolved wounds from other addicts. I withdrew from “Addictshuns” to sort it all out. That conversation brought me to a humble end of what I thought I knew. After telling the hurt our conversation did to me, it was replied back with “I don’t care, nor would any other drunk care that they hurt me by defending the 12 Steps.”

Later that night, a succinct apology arrived by email, asking me to talk to real live AA members. I forgave, though the hurt remained. Holding grudges is not healthy. This pain signaled something deeper inside needed to come to light.

RESOLUTION

That interaction showed me something powerful. For one, conversations without basic rules of understanding are not healthy, yet one can always learn from heated ugly arguments. I need to revisit my own reasons for writing about addiction, as well as heal my wounds perhaps through a personal sponsor of Al Anon, or my pastor.

Two things rang true to change my course with this blog:

·      Codependents who love addicts will never fix them. I am then a codependent who needs to stick to that topic.

o   I realize the underlying intention in this blog was to fix addicts, and myself from the evil addiction cycle I hate so much. Addiction hurt and harmed my family and many friends and people in my world and somehow writing about it helped me understand and study.

o   Only programs within AA, or certified practitioners in the field of addiction can accurately address and help other addicts. I must stick to what I know about co-dependency period.

·      The 12 Steps are only to be learned, worked and followed within context of the AA program and with a sponsor.

o   This is true. I tried to see if they could be worked without the benefit of a group and take them for what is written. I reasoned that the 12 steps were true, no matter who found them could read them for what there were and walk away with a solid path to wellness and recovery. That is a big mistake on my part.

o   The success of AA is through the entire program based on their 12 steps, sponsorship and groups. The Steps belong to AA and from that conversation are proprietary. Therefore I will add a disclaimer to anything mentioning AA, 12 Steps, etc. that my words are my own opinion and encourage anyone seeking help to find an official AA group through the main website.

WHY I WRITE ABOUT ADDICTION:

I reiterate, I am not an addict nor am I an expert in the topic. I write addictshuns | addictions from my own perspective and experiences, a person on the other side of addiction. You know in AA terminology “co-dependent.”  All articles, resources and posts are written as my own opinion and reflection about the topic of addiction. It not intended to lead anyone astray, harm them or cause life and death situations with my own lack of knowledge, or their need to find truth or help.

       

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Summary Posts: Step One

STEP ONE REVIEW:

• 12 Steps - Step One Make it Personal
• 12 Steps - STEP ONE: Reveal the Secrets   
• 12 Steps - Step One: We admitted we were powerless...

RECOMMENDED POSTS

• THOUGHTS: Sobriety and Fruit
• Forgiveness equals healing  
• StepChat.com

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12 Steps: STEP TWO - Natural Sequence

STEP 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

READY FOR STEP TWO?

If you truly worked through step One then its time to move to the next step. The 12 Steps aren't just leaving the first one and onto the next. I view it more as sequence or an orderly method of gaining stability and normalcy. I will always need to refer to the previous steps in order to understand the others. The naturally progression to step two is a belief in a Power greater then us for restoration. Without knowing your life is out of control and admitting life is unglued it’s impossible to come to this step.

Do you suppose the entire reason we find ourselves in denial about our unmanageable lives is due to the need to appear perfect? Let's talk about the word "Perfection." Our pride says to admit mistake or shortcomings is more painful than living a lie. Is it really? That burden of appearance chokes the very freedom to live life sober. Besides, perfect may not actually be what the world media says it is.

What exactly does perfect mean to you? Here is the dictionary definition:

perfect  -  adjective

• having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be : she strove to be the perfect wife | life certainly isn't perfect at the moment.

• free from any flaw or defect in condition or quality; faultless: the equipment was in perfect condition.

• precisely accurate; exact: a perfect circle.

• highly suitable for someone or something; exactly right: Gary was perfect for her—ten years older and with his own career.

Notice that perfect means, "as good as it's possible to be" which means that YOU ARE REALLY OK! Perfect isn't never being wrong or making mistakes. As for "precisely accurate" isn't your life exactly what it is and how you were born into it good or bad? Certainly you can't change those things! I’d like to think of perfect as the polishing of a rough stone into a smooth one. It takes plenty of time and patience. Perhaps being free from flaw or defect, simply means it's no longer a secret and that it is ok to admit it, as in step one.

ACTING UPON STEP TWO 

For those finding or coming to Faith in *God to be restored, becomes a relief to know you don't have to be perfect in order to live your life. No matter what your upbringing or religious, non- religious beliefs this Step is important for sanity.

I believe taking the second step allows you to drop the heavy burden of mistakes, denial, perfection, or whatever load of pain you carry each day. Dropping your guilt, shame and anger gives you a chance to find a clean slate. As a Christian, I read in scripture that forgiveness, newness of life, absolution from mistakes, sins, and flaw is a solid promise written through out the New Testament. There is power in every aspect to let it all go to God, or who you perceive to be higher than you are. It's up to you to find your own beliefs.

So calm your soul, soothe your mind and slide into Step Two with trust, reward and relief.  To embrace this step

It's like being held, comforted and FORGIVEN, no matter what. Are you still fearful? Just try it... Bow your head and ask for help. When I think of belief in a Higher Power, the word kneel comes to mind. It's an attitude of humility, an absence of pride. Then tell about what you experience, if not me, then someone you trust!

[*Higher Power as you understand it]

I looked up books pertaining to the 12 Steps and various religions these were the ones found. Curiously there were no Islamic, Atheist or other mainstream major religions found with the terms 12 Step + _______ {religion name}. This doesn't mean there are not books, just not found on Amazon today. 
Here are some 12 Step results with religious or spiritual themes:

• The Twelve Steps for Christians
• Twelve Jewish Steps to Recovery
• The 12-Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from Any Addiction
• 12 Steps: A Spiritual Journey (Tools for Recovery)
• God as we understand Him: a film about faith and the Twelve Step movement
• The Circle of Life - The Alcoholic Recovery Workbook
• The 12 Steps : A Way Out : A Spiritual Process for Healing
• Walking with God through the 12 Steps

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