Disease of Addiction
1
What does the disease of addiction mean to me?
9
Have I given plausible but untrue reasons for my behavior? What had they been?
16
What crisis brought me to recovery?
19
Over what exactly am I powerless?
26
What does unmanageability mean to me?
34
Do I fall apart the minute things don't go according to plan? How is this affecting my life?
42
Have I accepted the full measure of my disease?
47
What am I afraid of about the concept of surrender, if anything?
53
If I've been thinking about using or acting out on my addiction in some other way, have I shared it with my sponsor or told someone else?
61
Do I believe that I'm a monster who has poisoned the whole world with my addiction? Do I believe that my addiction is utterly inconsequential to the larger society around me? Or something in between?
2
Has my disease been active recently? In what way?
10
Have I compulsively acted on an obsession and then acted as if I had actually planned to act that way? When were those times?
17
What situation led me to formally work step one?
20
I’ve done things while acting out on my addiction that I would never do when focusing on recovery. What were they?
27
Have I ever been arrested or had legal trouble as a result of my addiction?
Did I ever do anything I could have been arrested for if only were caught?
What have those things been?
35
Do I treat every challenge as a personal insult? How has this affected my life?
43 a
Do I think I can still associate with the people connected with my addiction?
48
What convinces me that I can't use successfully anymore?
54
Have I stayed in touch with the reality of my disease no matter how long I've had freedom from active addiction?
62
Do I have a sense of my relative importance within my circle of family and friends? What is that sense?
In society as a whole?
3
What is it like when I'm obsessed with something? Does my thinking follow a pattern? Describe.
11
How have I blamed other people for my behavior?
18
When did I first recognize my addiction as a problem? Did I try to correct it? If so, how? If not, why not?
21
I’ve done things while acting out on my addiction that I would never do when focusing on recovery. What were they?
28
What troubles have I had at work or school because of my addiction?
36
Do I maintain a crisis mentality responding to every situation with panic? How has this affected my life?
43 b
Can I still go to the places where I used?
49
Do I accept that I'll never regain control even after a long period of abstinence?
55
Have I noticed that, now that I don't have to cover up my addiction, I no longer need to lie like I did?
Do I appreciate the freedom that goes along with that?
In what ways have I begun to be honest in my recovery?
63
How am I practicing the principle of humility in connection with this work on the first step?
4
When a thought occurs to me, do I immediately act on it without considering the consequences? In what other ways do I behave compulsively?
How have I compared my addiction with others' addiction? Is my addiction bad enough if I don't compare it to anyone else?
67
How do I know it's time to move on to Step 2?
22
How does my personality change when I'm acting out on my addiction? (For example, do I become arrogant? Self-centered? mean tempered? passive to the point where I can't protect myself? Manipulative? Whiny?)
29
What trouble have I had with my family as a result of my addiction?
37
Do I ignore signs that something may be seriously wrong with my health or with my children thinking things will work out somehow? Describe.
43 c
Do I think it's wise to keep drugs or paraphernalia around just to remind myself or test my recovery? If so why?
50
Can I begin my recovery without a complete surrender?
56
What have I heard in recovery that I have trouble believing? Have I asked my sponsor or the person I've heard say it to explain it to me?
64
Have I made peace with the fact that I'm an addict?
5
How does the self-centered part of my disease affect my life and the lives of those around me?
13
Am I comparing a current manifestation of my addiction to the way my life was before I got clean? Am I plagued by the idea that I should know better?
68
What is my understanding of Step One?
23
Do I manipulate other people to maintain my addiction? How?
30
What trouble have I had with my friends as a result of my addiction?
38
When in real danger, have I ever been either indifferent to that danger or somehow unable to protect myself as a result of my addiction? Describe.
44
Is there something I think I can't get through clean, some event that might happen that will be so painful that I will have to use to survive the hurt?
51
What would my life be like if I surrendered completely?
57
In what ways am I practicing open mindedness?
65
Have I made peace with the things I'll have to do to stay clean?
6
How has my disease affected me physically? Mentally? Spiritually? Emotionally?
14
Have I been thinking that I have enough information about addiction and recovery to get my behavior under control before it gets out of hand?
69
How has my prior knowledge and experience affected my work on this step one?
24
Have I tried to quit using and found that I couldn't? Have I quit using on my own and found that my life was so painful without drugs that my abstinence didn't last very long? What were these times like?
31
Do I insist on having my own way? What effect has my insistence had on my relationships?
39
Have I ever harmed someone as a result of my addiction? Describe.
45
Do I think that with some amount of clean time or with different life circumstances I’d be able to control my using?
52
Can I continue my recovery without complete surrender?
58
Am I willing to follow my sponsor's direction?
66
How is acceptance of my disease necessary for my continued recovery?
7
What is the specific way in which my addiction has been manifesting itself most recently?
15
Am I avoiding action because I'm afraid I will be ashamed when I face the results of my addiction? Am I avoiding action because I'm worried about what others will think?
25
How has my addiction caused me to hurt myself or others?
32
Do I consider the needs of others? What effect has my lack of consideration had on my relationships?
40
Do I have temper tantrums or react to my feelings in other ways that lower my self-respect or sense of dignity? Describe.
46
What reservations am I still holding on to?
59
Am I willing to go to meetings regularly?
8
Have I been obsessed with a person, place or thing? If so, how has that gotten in the way of my relationship with others? How else have I been affected mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally by this obsession?
33
Do I accept responsibility for my life and my actions?
Am I able to carry out my daily responsibilities without becoming overwhelmed?
How has this affected my life?
41
Did I take drugs or act out of my addiction to change or suppress my feelings? What was I trying to change or suppress?
60
Am I willing to give recovering my best effort? In what ways?