This step is about powerlessness and admitting this over whatever one is addicted to.  Just owning the meaning of this can be extremely painful and fearful.  Human beings are clingy to whatever they once found soothing .  This dependence eventually causing harm to others and destruction.  To continue with this the addict has to create delusion as a defence to protect the survival stash whatever it may be.  If we relate this to script and attachment,  the infant gets clingy over what its survial needs are which are about feeding and being  dependent on its caregivers.  Without this a huge creation of insecurity can leave a child with ambivalence, confusion or disordered attachment styles.  Here we can see the process of seeking certainty in soothing which can be compensated with a love of substance or certain behaviours which fullfiill these primal needs.  However, these unhealthy dependences eventualy lead to the unmanageability of life.  The dillema is the infant seeks this for comfort.  The adult then may seek to feed and sooth for comfort in the same primal way.  Or if life feels difficult anyway we can reach for dysfunctional self soothers.  This could be for ways to keep going and dealing with stuff.  Its a coping mechanism driven by emotional stress or because we have not found functional ways to self sooth or be productive.  The idea that some humans can anaesthetize for a period of time and others can’t is like Russian Roulette in our society.  The terrible cycle is that what once worked to sooth our needs, no longer does.  Being association animals and going back to previous experiences that once felt good or functional adds to the cycle of destruction.  This is because in our brain we log what our past experiences are and keep these stored in memory and feeling.  Here addicts can often compartmentalise or dis-miss if necessary how bad things were and even have euphoric recall over the good times even if life resulted in terrible consequences.  Its almost like admitting the unmanageability of how life has turned out is laden with grief.  This could be because of having to let go of something that one was once so attached to and even loved. Here because of development and script  we are all suseptible to being needy.  In my work on life script i have seen the same pain attached to making re-decisions on ones life path as i have letting go of addiction.  That is why i think the 2 are interdependent and intrinsically linked to a complex web of the fabric of being human and wanting safety needs met.  Additionally, . because we are all human then being safe and unmeanageability is in conflict with emotion.  This can then escalate into addiction cycles or emotional disorders, for example, obssessive compulsive or bipolar. The feeling of life holding unmanageability can be very fear based and full of inner turmoil and pain.