Can the 12 steps help with mental health recovery?
Like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), there are 12-step groups that are designed to offer support for individuals suffering from a mental illness. The 12 steps are replications of those in AA, and are centered around spirituality and helping individuals understand themselves and their illness while forming a closer connection to God.
Here is a list of the 12 steps used for mental health groups:
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We have admitted that we were powerless over our emotions, and that our lives had become unmanageable.
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We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
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We decided to turn our will and lives over to the care of God.
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We made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.
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We admitted to God, ourselves, and to another human being the nature of our wrongs.
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We were ready to have God remove these defects of our character.
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We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
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We made a list of the people we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
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We made direct amends to those people whenever possible, except when it would cause injury to others.
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We continued to take inventory of ourselves and when we were wrong, we promptly admitted it.
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We sought prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we knew Him and prayed for His will for us and the power to carry it out.
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Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in everything we do.
There are many useful components of the 12-step program for mental health, but each person is different and some individuals make take differently to the program than others. The 12 steps are based on a more spiritual foundation, and provides principles that people can follow and live by. Recovery is possible and millions of people have found what works best for them on their journey to recovery.
There is no “wrong way” to recover, and there is nothing wrong with attending several distinct groups to see which group best fits your needs. Each person learns in a unique way, so it’s only natural that some programs work better for some than others. By trying different paths to recovery, we are investing in ourselves and our futures. Once we choose a path that works for us, we can successfully be on our way to improving our health and well-being.
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