Narcissism and alcoholism recovery

Narcissism A Barrier to Personal Acceptance of the Spiritual Aspect of Alcoholics Anonymous

Twenty-nine newly recovering alcoholic outpatients drawn from a Minnesota-Model type treatment program in the United Kingdom completed the NPI narcissism scale and the “Steps Questionnaire.”

Results showed the narcissistic “authority” subscale showed a very strong inverse relationship to level of personal acceptance of Steps 2 and 3 (the so called “God” steps) of the 12-Step program embodied by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Also, the narcissistic “superiority” subscale showed a significant inverse association with acceptance of Step 3.

The present results suggest that, relative to their more humble counterparts, recovering alcoholics who score high on narcissism are particularly reluctant to accept the spiritual aspect of the program of addiction recovery advocated by AA.

In particular, results suggest self-centered outpatients are reluctant to surrender their willfulness and thereby accept help from a transcendent yet immanent Divine Source of power.

We tentatively conclude narcissism, or lack of humility, might serve as a psychological barrier that inhibits the tendency to seek assistance from or become fully engaged in faith-based community self-help groups that might facilitate sobriety.

As a result of their reluctance to accept empowerment from spiritual resources, narcissist alcoholic clients might be vulnerable to dropout or minimal engagement in professional treatment based on AA principles, as well as relapse.

Keywords: Alcoholics Anonymous, 12-Steps, spirituality, religion, personality, humility, narcissism, surrender, recovery, treatment acceptability, dropout, relapse. Research; Kenneth E. Hart & Cherry Huggett. Narcissism A Barrier to Personal Acceptance of the Spiritual Aspect of Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, Volume: 23 Issue: 4, 2005

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Overcoming denial of medical conditions

Denial is a common response to a stressful situation. It can be an important coping and defense mechanism. But it also can delay the appropriate response to circumstances that require action and change.

How can denial be helpful or a roadblock to good health?

Denial in its broadest sense means refusing to acknowledge painful or overwhelming external circumstances, avoiding the facts or minimizing the consequences.

Good denial — or even healthy skepticism — can help patients withhold judgment until all the facts are in. It prevents obsession with minor aches and pains. A cough does not mean pneumonia until it’s properly diagnosed by a doctor.

Good denial is used by everyone to block out annoying interferences. For example, stop and listen to the sounds around you. You may hear road noises, air-conditioning, wind, TV and radio sounds. These are normally blocked out of our conscious awareness until we need them. Ask any mother if she actually hears the normal sounds of children at play until there is a cry of pain or alarm - then she is instantly alert.

When patients hear bad health news, denying or suppressing it can offer needed time to come to grips with challenges ahead. Gradually adjusting to major changes can lead to better decisions in the long run. This gradual adjustment is referred to as an adaptive response. Just like we gradually adjust to annoying sounds and sights around us.

But denial that prevents patients from seeking treatment or leads to misuse of alcohol or drugs becomes a maladaptive or harmful response. A woman who finds a lump in her breast and ignores it misses the benefit of an early diagnosis and best chance for a cure. Denying the consequences of smoking or staying in an abusive relationship can jeopardize long-term health.

We use the ‘gradual adjustment’ facility instinctively to deny we have problems. Especially with alcohol because alcohol is something that may have become a good friend to relieve stress and emotional pain.

It all comes down to finding a healthy balance. When faced with an overwhelming turn of events, people can benefit from taking some time to adjust. But that doesn’t change the facts of the situation. A counselor, psychologist or general practitioner can help those stuck in denial find healthy ways of coping that will sustain overall health and well-being.

What is your experience, observations with denial?

Adapted from a story at the Mayo Clinic

PRAYER and MEDITATION FORMULA

Prayer can be a relief and comfort. Some basic ideas about practicing prayer are;

When –
Daily: Prayer works best on our mind and body when it’s cumulative. Daily prayer is a good idea.

At Days Beginning: We begin first thing in the morning. We ask “a Power greater than ourselves” to direct our thinking during the day ahead. Especially important is being willing to let go of self-pity (depression and victimization), dishonesty (mostly within self and with others, but also with money), and selfishness.

At Days ending: Before going to sleep, we review our mental life for that day, looking for traces of resentment or fear – especially rationalizing or justifying our behavior out of fear or resentment.

In addition, we plan to make any necessary apologies or amends during the 24 hours ahead.

Here it is crucial to avoid “worry, remorse, or morbid reflection.

We ask questions: What more do you want to say? Where shall I go now? What shall I do next? What do you want from me God?

Pray for self and others: Pray for others as well as for yourself. This is not simply an admonition not to be selfish; rather, the force of your actions is too powerful to be directed inside only.

By including those you care about in your prayers, you are solidifying the bonds between you.

Style –
The collaborative style: Here, God is the co-pilot. You talk to God, listen, consult, and the responsibility for solving a problem is shared.

Collaborators gain the most from their spiritual coping. They get a strong sense of spiritual support from God. A crisis becomes an opportunity to grow spiritually, to learn more about your life and God.

The deferring style: We leave our problems fully to God. It’s a good response to a situation when it’s truly out of your hands. But it’s not helpful if people use it to sidestep their own responsibility. ‘Let go, let God’

The self-directing style: You’re in charge. God gave us the resources to solve our problems and now it’s up to us to handle them.

We aren’t really looking to God for help, either because they just don’t think it’s God’s place to solve their problems or because they’re cynical.

This style works well when seeking the power of the Higher Power if we really know what to do.

Petitions and inward communication: It is either a petition to God or, in its wider sense, is inward communication with your real self. In either case, the ultimate result is the same.

Focus: We can pray for the cleansing and purification of the inner self, for freeing it from the layers of ignorance and darkness that envelops it. The enveloping ego can stop us doing what we really ‘need’ to do or say.

Vital things: Prayer is a means of bringing orderliness and peace and repose in our daily thinking and actions. Take care of the vital things and the other things will take care of themselves.

Twenty minutes a day: Prayer and meditation are important simply because you owe yourself 20 minutes each day to reflect on who you are, what you have become, where you are, where you have been, and where you’re going.

How do you meditate or pray? Leave your comments below.

Controlled Drinking Effects

Want to drink without the problems – you can if your not an alcoholic.

Smelling and seeing alcohol weakens the ability to resist a drink. When social drinkers were exposed to an alcoholic drink they found it difficult to control their intake of alcohol.

When the same people saw and smelt water they had no stronger desire to drink it.

Mark Muraven and Dikla Shmueli reported in the prestigious journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (June 2006). No matter what emotion their volunteers were experiencing at the time they had a greater impulse to have a drink of alcohol after sighting or smelling alcoholic beverages. Also, by resisting the temptation to drink they undermined their self-control capacity at least in relation to alcohol.

The same effect has been reported by alcoholics for generations. However, alcoholics have an inbuilt ‘desire to drink’ at any time and anywhere.

This study found that people who had normal drinking desires were less likely to drink or drink to excess. But, people with a ‘desire to drink’ drank alcohol quicker, more often and in greater quantities.

Self-control, self-will seems to make matters worse for people with a strong desire to drink alcohol.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has two criteria that people can use to assess their own drinking practices. These are;

• An abnormal desire to drink anytime, anywhere, anyhow – a preoccupation with alcohol.
• Once having had a drink, an inability to always be able guarantee their behavior or drinking once drinking has started - a compulsion to drink alcohol.

 AA has over 3 million members world wide who know just what this scientific study confirms; that an unusual preoccupation with alcohol and an irresistible impulse to drink can be medically and socially damaging. Alcohol abuse can also lead to the wrecking of normal thinking and life in general.

Read of alcoholics experiences, strengths and hopes online @ Alcoholics Anonymous.

What are your expereinces with controlled drinking? Leave your comments below.

The 12 Steps Of Alcoholics Anonymous

Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (AA, pp 59)

AA Saying:

• We Give up with Steps 1-3;
• we Clean up with Steps 4-7;
• we Make up with Steps 8 & 9, and
• we can Keep up our sobriety with Steps 10-12.