What is Addiction?

Question: What is addiction and how can we help someone who is addicted?

Answer: It's really a complex question but in my Clinical experience it is a very individualized. The "once a addict always an addict" idea is rooted in a disease model of addiction which is the prevailing paradigm in the industry. The original 12 step movement (founded upon the work of my hero C.G. Jung), AA and other 12 step groups are the single most successful treatment for addictions of all kinds. They were so over used though, that many have turned away for other options. I've seen alot of good successful therapies work for addicts, but it, even though a cliche, starts with the individual wanting to change. I've seen people put down alcohol and even heroin, never to use it again with little or no intervention and I've seen others who've been through years of treatment but are still hopelessly addicted and active users. Interventions (family and friends getting together to confront a addict) works well because of the social pressure aspect. For first time addicts this can work well, especially if they've been in denial. Dr. Jung stated that "You see, Alcohol in Latin is “spiritus” and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum." That fundamentally, the reason people seek out substances or behaviors that lead to addiction is that they unconsciously yearn for a deep and meaningful spiritual experience and that is missing in their life. The substance is merely a substitution for a change in consciousness that they do not know how to consciously achieve. I have found in my personal and clinical experience that, this explanation is absolutely correct. American culture is a very extroverted one that inflates the value of the ego ("It's all about me, me, me") and downplays or ignores the value of the Higher Self (Or God, the Spirit, whatever you wish to call "that which is beyond the personal self or ego"). I've seen patients find Buddhist Meditation and practice, Christianity, Islam, AA, and many other forms of spiritual practice as a path to Wholeness that becomes so fulfilling, they simply do not want to consume substances that dull or replace that deep meaningful experience.

"People say that what we're seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. What we seek is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel that rapture of being alive." -Joseph Campbell.

Ultimately, I've found that my job in working with addictions is to gently help guide a person to finding a deeper path toward ultimate meaning, whatever that might be. It begins with a belief that this person's higher self, already knows the answer to their problems. What is understood then is that the therapeutic experience can become a deeply meaningful one where mind and spirit are present in the relationship between the client and therapist. This then also gives a kind of excitement to the experience because what is also evident is that the Universe itself is taking part in our healing and ultimately we all are on a path toward ultimate wholeness where we are growing and becoming our fully realized potential. The fullest expression of the inner beauty and light that is at the core of our truest Self.