Addiction – journaling as a spiritual tool.
Journaling is a spiritual too that is applied to many different situations. In its basic use, a journal is a written record and its significance lies in the fact that it is written.
Addiction is an illness of denial and is often characterised as spiritual blindness. The only place that denial can survive is in the mind.
It is often said that the reason addiction is so difficult to cure is because the addict fails to properly see his or her dilemma.
Even if the addict has some idea of the predicament they are in, self justification steps in to reassure them that the outcome will not be as bad as people are saying.
Most, if not all addiction recovery programs, stress the critical importance of an inventory of self. This is where journaling is a significant help. It records information in the written word which makes it much harder to deny what is actually happening.
The main purpose of the illness of addiction is to provide comfort to the addict. It is this need for comfort and the lengths the addict will go to acquire it that makes the illness so hard to treat. It is also the reason the addict will try everything in their power to hang on to the addictive behaviour.
Addiction is probably the only illness that gives pleasure and pain in equal amounts. It is the incessant need for pleasure, or pain relief that drives the addict to such a pitch of self-destroying activity. Once these actions take on the compulsive hallmarks of addiction the addict has lost the power to make rational choices in their life.
This powerlessness makes the addicts life unmanageable and has serious life damaging consequences as a result. A number of spiritual tools are then required to allow the addict to recover. Recognition by the addict of their dilemma is a first step in this process and this is where journaling is of immense help.
The feedback a journal provides to an addict makes it much more difficult for them to deny the reality of their situation. A daily written record of their actions and emotional responses to events is a very useful tool in breaking through denial.
Addiction has many expressions, including drugs, alcohol, sex and food. Loss of control over the usage of any of these activities has very serious consequences. Recognising that loss of control is happening and using journaling to see this is a massive aid in entering recovery.
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