Confession can be a person's accountability system. Christianity at one time deemed it so necessary that it was officially designated a role in the Catholic Church. When we confess our sins or shortcomings, we take notice of them and maybe less likely to repeat them without notice.

Another thing we can gain from step 5 is it allows us to be rid of that terrible sense of isolation we've always had. Almost without exception, alcoholics and addicts are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking and drugging got bad and people begin to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered that feeling that we didn't quite belong.