Step One: Questions to Ask Yourself

Step 1 - I admit that I am powerless over my addiction and that my life has become unmanageable

•Have you seriously damaged your relationships with other people because of your addictive behaviors? If so, list the relationships and how you damaged them.

•If other people have told you how you how your have hurt them, then write down what they said.

•Describe any missed appointments that resulted from your addictive behaviors.

•Describe any memory lapses where you cannot account for where you were.

•Describe any times that you cannot recall how you got home.

•Describe times and ways that you have significantly neglected or damaged relationships with your loved ones in order to indulge in your addictive behaviors or because you were recovering from your addictive behaviors.

•Describe any illnesses that have resulted from your addictive behaviors.

•If your addictive behavior contributed to excessive spending, describe the situations and why you did it.

•Describe times that you have withdrawn from social interaction and isolated yourself to an extreme degree and why.

•Describe incidents where you expressed inappropriate anger towards other people.

•Describe embarrassing or humiliating incidents in your life. Were they related to your addictive behaviors? If so, how were they related?

•Describe attempts that you have made in the past to control your addictive behaviors.How successful have they been? Do these attempts show the powerlessness that you have over your addictive behaviors?

•Do you feel any remorse from the ways that you have acted in your life? If so, explain that in detail.

•Describe any irrational or crazy set of events that have happened since you began you addictive behavior. Did you rationalize this behavior? If so, in what way?

•Have you avoided people because they did not share in or approve of your addictive behavior? If so, list these people and situations.

•Describe any dreams that you have had that exhibit the unmanageability or chaos of your life.

•Can you pinpoint one time period in your life when your life began to become extremely unmanageable? If so, describe that period of time and what was happening. 

•Is there one incident or insight that made you realize that your life was unmanageable? If so, describe it in detail. 

•How would you summarize the powerlessness and unmanageability of your life in the face of your addiction?