Twelve Steps To Breaking Addiction

Anyone with any kind of addiction knows that addiction is a difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible cycle to break free from. Huge steps forward and many hours of progress toward breaking the addiction can be quickly negated with just one small step back into the addictive cycle of behavior. It can be maddening and almost impossible without help from an outside source. Many people stuck in the cycle of these kinds of addictive behavior have found help through twelve step programs like the type revolutionized by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Twelve-step programs have been proven to show results with many types of addicts, not just alcoholics. These programs use faith such as a belief in a higher power to help addicts break their addictions. However, because the philosophy is intentionally broad it has the ability to be beneficial across many cultures and belief systems.

The first step in a twelve step program involves letting go of denial. In the first step an addict needs to come to terms with and admit they are powerless against their addiction. The second step deals with faith. In the second step an addict must look to a higher power for strength. The third step deals with surrender. An addict must surrender their will and turn their life over to a high power. This decision puts them on the path to change. The fourth step involves moral inventory and soul searching. Before change can be made an addict must look inside their soul.

The fifth step in the program can be one of the most difficult for an addict, especially someone who has been keeping an addiction secret. It is about integrity. Before change can be made, an addict must admit to themselves, to a higher power, and to someone else the exact nature of the problem. The sixth step deals with acceptance. An addict must accept that he or she has these character defects and must accept them exactly as they are and turn them over to a higher power. The seventh step is humility. This step is when addict must humbly ask a high power for help with an addiction that can't be broken alone.

In the eight step an addict must be willing to list all people who have been harmed by the addiction and be willing to make amends to all of them. Another hard step is number nine. An addict must make amends to those injured, except where that would cause more harm. The tenth step makes sure an addict is on the right track. They must continue to soul search and admit wrongdoing. The eleventh step involves communicating to a higher power in the way that the addict understands his or her relationship with this higher power. And finally, the twelfth step in which an addict must carry this message to others that need it and to continue practicing these principles.