Throughout my life, I have observed how human beings continue to strive to find answers outside themselves, to their exhausted belief systems, to their existential emptiness. They continue to do so through external stimuli, by means of consuming “something” or through certain insatiable activities or behaviors that take them to the extreme, in order to feel pleasure. Although in the end the result is the same: a deep inner emptiness, frustration, desolation and the feeling that something is wrong or something is missing in the individual’s life.
In my experience, I have found many people who, in that search to recreate themselves, to fill those voids, or to escape from their reality, tried various ways, which ultimately hooked them into an incurable, progressive and fatal disease if they do not receive treatment. For example: substance addicts (I include of course alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs); Addictive behaviors to work, gambling, sex, food, hoarding, sports, the Internet, people, religions, sects, political parties, ideologies and many more. The worrying thing about all this is the damage that the individual causes to himself and to those around him, directly and indirectly.
Starting from the premise that addictions are a disease of multifactorial origin and that requires a multidisciplinary treatment, specific for each user and his family, let us reflect a little about this aspect that adds to an effort against the scourge that plagues society, from a humanistic and compassionate perspective.
How wonderful it is to discover that one can enjoy a full and happy life, without the need to harm oneself in the way that they did, developing unknown capacities through inner growth; producing an inner transformation in the human being; a spiritual life.
Spirituality and addictions.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine recognizes a spiritual dimension to addiction and in its definition states:
“Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuits. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social, and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual’s pathological reward and/or relief from substance use and other behaviors.
Addiction is characterized by an inability to consistently abstain, impaired behavioral control, craving, decreased recognition of significant problems with behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and may result in disability or premature death.”
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
“Within the research on alcoholism, great importance is attributed to spirituality. Some researchers keep their distance from this concept, however, others agree in pointing out that this and other variables protect individuals from addiction, favor the treatment process and are mediators of long periods of abstinence. The assumption of a link between spirituality and alcoholism is due to the existence of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups…
…Currently, the work of AA is one of the most popular approaches to recovery from alcoholism and although its effectiveness is a controversial topic, different research suggests that attendance at these types of groups can be beneficial, especially for those who participate more in the activities and beliefs within them.
…A central concept in AA is the acceptance of a spiritual force from a higher power for recovery from alcoholism that implies accepting spirituality, which is seen as an experience of transformation or “spiritual awakening” as a result of attending AA groups and practicing the 12 steps…
…The results of this study showed that spacing out or never practicing the 12 steps generates low levels of spirituality and that these can cause relapse, while greater spirituality has important implications for the recovery of the alcoholic. Likewise, in this sample, the path to developing spirituality and maintaining abstinence requires cognitive, emotional and behavioral activity and not just conviction of the disease and its probable solution.”
Addiction and the spiritual search
For his part, Dr. Gabor Mate, who has dedicated part of his life to working with addicts, in Chapter 34 of his book “Hungry Ghosts: The Kingdom of Addiction” says:
“There is nothing lost: addiction and the spiritual search. All problems are psychological, but all solutions are spiritual.” Later he says: …“Addiction floods in where self-knowledge – and therefore divine knowledge – is lacking. To fill the unbearable void, we cling to things of the world that cannot compensate us for the loss of who we are.”…
He also points out: “In a state of spiritual poverty, we will be seduced by whatever makes us insensitive to our fear. That, ultimately, is the origin of the addiction process, for the very essence of that process is the drive to take from without what properly arises from within.”
…“There is an innate quality or drive in human beings that the Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frankl called our “quest for meaning.” Meaning is found in activities that go beyond the self.
In our own hearts most of us know that we experience the greatest satisfaction not when we receive or acquire something, but when we make an authentic contribution to the welfare of others or to the social good, or when we create something original and beautiful or just something that represents a labor of love. It is no coincidence that addictions arise most in cultures that subjugate communal goals, time-honored tradition, and individual creativity to mass production and the accumulation of wealth. Addiction is one of the results of “existential emptiness,” the feeling of emptiness generated when we place a supreme value on selfish achievements.”
These brief references serve to underline the importance of addressing and using these types of tools that enrich the work of addiction recovery, in this conjunction of efforts and wills that add to and complement the medical, psychiatric, psychological, counseling and mutual aid work. Millions of human beings have tried to silence unbearable psychological pain through addiction; perhaps it is time to turn within ourselves and find the answers.
