Join our supportive sober community where each day becomes a step towards personal growth and lasting positive change. Step 1 of AA references the need for members to hit rock bottom before genuinely understanding their addiction. Your rock bottom is whatever makes you realize alcohol is destructive to you and your loved ones. Rock bottom gives you the motivation to open your mind to recovery.

Why Does Admitting Powerlessness Matter?

This step is not saying you are powerless over your actions, decisions, or relationships with others; only over your addiction to alcohol or drugs. It is not an excuse to continue in a destructive cycle because there’s nothing you can do about it. Step One AA is fundamentally about honesty, while active addiction is characterized by denial. The ways one tells themselves and everyone around them “see I’m okay” when they most likely are not. Fully accepting step one is not always a straight path, but there is good news!

More on Substance Abuse and Addiction

This kind of thinking prevents us from looking at our powerlessness. Accepting our powerlessness opens us up to the willingness for a Higher Power’s help. We let this Power remove the problem by practicing the rest of the steps as a way of life. Until we can accept powerlessness, we will not fully seek Power. Accepting our powerlessness (complete defeat) is the bottom that an alcoholic and addict must hit. When we admit that we are powerless over alcohol or drugs, we admit that we are living with a disease that alters the chemical makeup of the brain.

Step 1 of AA: Admitting You’re Powerless Over Alcohol

To admit powerlessness over alcohol (or drugs) means accepting the fact that you’ve lost control over your substance use. You accept that your life, either internally, externally or both, has been impacted by maintaining the use of a substance and this addiction has negatively influenced your thoughts and actions. As part of a medical detox and alcohol withdrawal management, certain medications may be used to decrease the severity of symptoms and decrease the risk of complications. We’ve had good reasons to quit for good, and we continued drinking or using drugs anyway. This understanding of the word obsession explains why we keep going back to pick up the first drink or drug.

• This includes attending meetings regularly, getting counseling, practicing mindfulness, and staying connected with others who share similar struggles.
• Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help.
• They will, over time, always over-use and abuse the substance.
• It strained our relationship and he has still died, sick and unhappy.” That was a hard one for me to learn from in my recovery, but it has been one of the greatest lessons of my life.
• They are convinced they are recreational users who take drugs and alcohol because that is what they want, not what they need.

How to Maintain Long-Term Recovery From Addiction

You care about your loved ones, but you can’t imagine your life without alcohol. Your drinking has led to trouble with your family or friends, or made problems worse, yet you continue to drink. This doesn’t make you a bad person, but it does make it more urgent that you look for help to change your habits and get your relationships back on track.

“Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out.” (Big Book, Page

Any of these things could signal an alcohol problem. Don’t feel bad, but do consider cutting back on drinking — or quitting altogether. The more things you said “yes” to, the more important it is that you take action or seek help from a health professional.

ways my life has become unmanageable due to drugs and alcohol

If you are living with a loved one’s drinking, it can be difficult to admit you are powerless and unable to keep cleaning up the mess and being the responsible one. You may continue to make things work and, therefore, be part of the sickness. Only after admitting you are powerless can you begin to make changes in yourself. From step one, you can continue to the rest of the 12 steps and 12 traditions. The group has a lot of information online about its history and philosophy.

Alcohol use disorder

The consequences of heavy alcohol use are serious and include an increased risk of cancer, dementia, falls and dangerous interactions with medications. Following detox, you may be encouraged powerless over alcohol to transition into either an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation program for longer-term recovery work. Even if nothing bad has happened — yet — this is a warning sign.