Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem in their lives, but now focus on bettering the lives of those impacted by narcotics through community, education, and acceptance. This is mostly done through the form of meetings, of which there are over 27,000 held in the United States each year according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). Narcotics Anonymous and other anonymous groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) use a 12-step model to guide members on their road to recovery. In this article, we will review the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous and how this is used to help individuals on their road to recovery.
As communicated on the Narcotics Anonymous website, the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous are the principles that made their recovery possible:
#1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
#2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
#3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
#4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
#5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
#6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
#7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
#8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
#9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
#10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
#11. We 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 a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
There are many guides, chapters, and books that describe all of the benefits of the 12-step model and it’s approach to substance abuse, but both Narcotics Anonymous and Long Island Center for Recovery has overarching views to help you interpret what truly becomes a way of life for many individuals during their recovery.
It’s important to remember that no one became addicted in a single day, and the expectation is that you too will not achieve recovery in a single day. They call it a recovery journey for reason, and this is the mind-set individuals should adopt when beginning their recovery. NA content suggests when adopting the 12-step model, the one thing that defeats individuals in their recovery journey time and time again is an attitude of indifference or intolerance towards spiritual principles. So, we encourage individuals to be open-minded, be honest with yourself and others, and be willing to accept the good and the bad. Keeping these three core’s in mind will help you well on your way to your recovery journey.
The 12 steps are about accepting where we are powerless, accepting where we we’re responsible, moving forward and not dwelling on self-blame or hate, but rather focusing on a future of healing, and finally maintain those blocks build upon for the rest of our lives.
We hope this information was helpful in providing an understanding of the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous, and how they are used to help individuals on their path to recovery. Long Island Center for Recovery is a firm believer in the 12 step model while also providing and safe and structured detox for those client in need of an inpatient treatment facility. If you or a loved one needs any additional assistance with addiction treatment services, please reach out to Long Island Center for Recovery at 1-800-344-5427, and we’d be happy to assist you or your loved ones in any way possible.
References:
Narcotics Anonymous: The 12 Steps
https://www.na.org.au/multi/the-12-steps/
National Library of Medicine: Cross-cultural Applicability of the 12-Step Model: A Comparison of Narcotics Anonymous in the USA and Iran
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6846120/
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