Alcoholism, Part 5 -- Reconnecting to Spirit
By David Gersten, M.D.
Over the past four issues, you have read, in detail about the metabolic chaos caused by alcoholism, and you have learned how it is possible to cure the alcoholic's defective brain chemistry as well as system-wide problems like hypoglycemia, candida, and adrenal exhaustion. You have clearly seen why alcoholism is a disease.
We continue this series by looking at the essential need of the alcoholic to get spiritually re-connected. This article will focus on the long-term issues of recovery, but first we will briefly look at the obstacles to even beginning sobriety.
The alcoholic's denial is a huge obstacle. He does not believe he has a problem. He is also an incredibly good liar, finding endless ways of proving to his family, friends, and himself that he does not have a drinking problem. He suffers from ?terminal uniqueness,? the belief that, unlike all other drinkers, he can handle it?or that the situation of his life is so unique, so different from anyone else's, that alcohol is a necessary part of his life.
Those married to an alcoholic know that he is having an affair, an affair with a bottle. The spouse of an alcoholic knows that she comes second to alcohol. Alcohol is truly the object of love of the alcoholic, and he merges with his ?lover.? Alcohol is woven into the fabric of the alcoholic's life, personality, and relationships. Given the comfort that alcohol provides, the alcoholic is a reluctant participant in his own recovery, and he is usually dragged kicking and screaming to get detoxed and begin on the path to recovery.
I want to remind the reader about the biology of alcoholism. While there are powerful psychological issues that perpetuate the illness, the brain chemistry of the alcoholic drives him back to the bottle over and over again, because alcohol mimics the effects of all major neurotransmitters. Alcohol and THIQs (created by alcohol) bind with receptor sites for the neurotransmitters GABA, serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, and more. When the alcoholic drinks, his brain ?thinks? it is receiving GABA or serotonin, and so the craving to drink is very strong, as alcohol causes the brain to temporarily feel as if it has all the right neurotransmitters. The alcoholic is dealing with very powerful problems of biochemistry. The linchpin of alcoholic brain chemistry involves the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma amino butyric acid).
Let's say, for example, that a man began drinking when he was 17 and stopped drinking when he was 37 years old. He is like a prisoner who has spent decades in jail. He has no clue how to live. However, the prisoner just released from prison has an advantage over the alcoholic, for he has had to learn, day-by-day, what coping skills will work best to keep him the happiest, safest, and most sane. He has had time to use his brain/mind to negotiate the difficult challenges of everyday life. The alcoholic has not developed any of the normal coping skills to deal with life's everyday stresses, and so he is emotionally raw and terrified in the face of dealing with anything. He has no tools at all.
He has lived in a dream world for 20 years, amongst a fiction of lies he has told himself. When he begins to ?wake up,? he asks himself, ?Who am I without alcohol?? and he has no answer, for his entire identity has been entangled with alcohol. He asks himself, ?What is my purpose? Why am I here?? and he has no answer, for he did not evolve a purpose the way others do. He is like a terrified child who is lost and abandoned, and he has lost his one source of love and consolation, namely the bottle. He has not developed inner mechanisms for healing old wounds. In essence he is facing a terrifying new world, and it does not look as good as the old world. And the ?promise? of a better life without alcohol does not seem real and feels more like a cruel lie??at least, especially when he is trying to give up alcohol, or even right after he has given it up.
Alcoholism requires a profound re-connecting of the spirit, a discovery of one's relationship to God, and finding the serenity of one's own Self or Soul. It is not surprising that the incidence of atheism in adolescence is much higher among alcoholics than it is for non-alcoholics. For some reason, that has not yet been identified, large numbers of future alcoholics lose faith during adolescence. They lose faith in themselves, their ability to cope, and in the existence of a soul, God, or a Higher Power.
After going through the trials and tribulations that finally lead to sobriety, he is face to face with his spiritual void. If he does not succeed in his spiritual quest, the risk of severe depression is quite high as is the risk of successful suicide.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the well-known 12-step program, is the best-developed program to help the alcoholic begin to reconnect at all levels. The whole purpose of AA is to put people in touch with God. However, the Big Book, as it is called, is often misused in alcohol treatment programs. I worked at Scripps MacDonald Center 's Drug and Alcohol Treatment program for many years and also worked at Mesa Vista Hospital 's drug and alcohol program.
As with anything else, it is important to clarify that those who propagate a message or technique are not always as pure as the source. The Bible is a good example! All too often I saw drug/alcohol rehab counselors treating AA more like a dogmatic religion than what is actually contained and recommended in the Big Book. I was kicked off the staff at Scripps MacDonald Center by the medical director, for using mental imagery techniques. I decided to come on staff after interviewing with the medical director and letting him know what I do, so I was a bit shocked to be told to leave, after having made it clear how I practice. I had developed a series of mental imagery techniques that supported each of the 12 steps. Subsequently, the medical director was fired for reasons I will not go into here! (Notice my small grin here).
Recently I spoke with a priest, who is a recovered alcoholic, who has worked in drug and alcohol rehab facilities, and who runs workshops with a Native American shaman. I gained greater clarity of the essence of the 12-steps, along with pitfalls on the road to recovery. Some of what follows comes out of my discussion with him.
The 12 Steps
Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol?that our lives had become unmanageable. The short version: ?I can't.?
Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. The short version: ?God can.?
Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him. Short version: ?I will let God.?
The shorthand way of understanding the first three steps is: ?I can't. God can. I will let him.? Steps 4 ? 9 have to do with the causes that brought on and perpetuates alcoholism, and in making amends. ?Making amends? involves more than saying, ?I am sorry.? It involves taking action to correct wrongs done to others. For example, if you owe someone money, you make amends by setting up a payment plan to pay off the debt.
The 12 steps intend to help the individual move from the small, ego-self, to an identification with one's inner essence, soul, atma, or spirit. The steps help people to get involved in helping others, to express gratitude, and to move out of the small mind, the selfish mind.
Sobriety is different from being ?undrunk,? and involves a metamorphosis, a spiritual transformation. The alcoholic who is truly on a healing journey moves from ?getting and forgetting? to ?giving and forgiving.? Every day he prays that his actions will not be driven by fear, greed, envy, or anger, but will be motivated by love, service, and gratitude. Each day the conscious, recovering alcoholic prays, ?Thy will, not my will.?
The alcoholic has been in a deep sleep for a very long time. Waking up is not easy, but a spiritual awakening is essential, for the body has been drugged, the mind poisoned, and the soul left to languish. Through the 12 steps, an individual begins to get in touch with God or a Higher Power and, over time, strives to deepen that connection. He also re-connects with family and friends at the level of love, rather than from the level of fear, addiction, lying, and manipulation. And he strives to quiet his mind to re-connect with Self.
The Priest and the Shaman
What role does the shaman play in the healing modality I am reviewing here? He is most concerned with helping the alcoholic re-connect with Mother Earth. The shaman teaches that the Earth does not belong to us, but we belong to the Earth. The shaman teaches that every breath is the breath of God, and that by simply becoming aware, present, and expressing gratitude to the elements of Mother Earth, one can become more fully re-connected. If we don't realize that our connection to the Earth is essential and that in alcoholism we have become disconnected from everything, total healing will not occur. The alcoholic, as well as the rest of us in the West, have lost our grounding and our ability to live in the Now and simply being present with ?what is.? All of us in the West, as part of our disconnect from Mother Earth, have become disconnected from natural, deep breathing. If you consider that the word ?inspire? means ?to breathe? as well as ?to be spiritually elevated,? you can appreciate the importance of our disconnection from Mother Earth and natural breathing that is part of a solid connection to Her.
No matter how you look at it, alcoholic recovery requires that one become free of the mind. There are endless techniques to help one become free of the mind, to quiet the mind, to find an inner stillness. It is not the point of this article to elaborate on techniques, but to underscore what is required for recovery.
The spiritual quest does not end after 5, 10, or 20 years of sobriety. It is a life-long process, which reaches fruition when life becomes a prayer. And, as outlined in past issues, alcoholic biochemistry does not self-correct. After ten years of sobriety, the underlying biochemical problems that gave rise to alcoholism and that became ingrained through years of drinking must be healed through comprehensive nutritional supplementation. When this task is accomplished, one no longer has alcoholic biochemistry. Being sound in body and mind makes spiritual work much easier.
The alcoholic learns, through AA, to live one day at a time. That is all any of us can do. We will evolve more quickly if we live one moment at a time, learning to surrender to and accept what IS in each and every moment. When we bring conscious awareness to what is going on in our body, mind, and spirit?in this moment, profound shifts in consciousness occur. Spiritual re-connection occurs at levels we never dreamt possible. Living life through a bottle is a life of limitation. Living a sober life, in which we fully experience each moment, is a life of peace, joy, and truly limitless possibilities. Spiritual re-connection is its own goal. While sobriety is the result of this re-connection to God, Self, and Nature, spiritual re-connection in-an-of-itself is the ultimate goal.
David Gersten, M.D. practices psychiatry and nutritional medicine out of his Encinitas office and can be reached at 760-633-3063. Please feel free to access 1,000 on-line pages about holistic health, amino acids, and nutritional therapy at www.aminoacidpower.com.
By David Gersten, M.D.
Over the past four issues, you have read, in detail about the metabolic chaos caused by alcoholism, and you have learned how it is possible to cure the alcoholic's defective brain chemistry as well as system-wide problems like hypoglycemia, candida, and adrenal exhaustion. You have clearly seen why alcoholism is a disease.
We continue this series by looking at the essential need of the alcoholic to get spiritually re-connected. This article will focus on the long-term issues of recovery, but first we will briefly look at the obstacles to even beginning sobriety.
The alcoholic's denial is a huge obstacle. He does not believe he has a problem. He is also an incredibly good liar, finding endless ways of proving to his family, friends, and himself that he does not have a drinking problem. He suffers from ?terminal uniqueness,? the belief that, unlike all other drinkers, he can handle it?or that the situation of his life is so unique, so different from anyone else's, that alcohol is a necessary part of his life.
Those married to an alcoholic know that he is having an affair, an affair with a bottle. The spouse of an alcoholic knows that she comes second to alcohol. Alcohol is truly the object of love of the alcoholic, and he merges with his ?lover.? Alcohol is woven into the fabric of the alcoholic's life, personality, and relationships. Given the comfort that alcohol provides, the alcoholic is a reluctant participant in his own recovery, and he is usually dragged kicking and screaming to get detoxed and begin on the path to recovery.
I want to remind the reader about the biology of alcoholism. While there are powerful psychological issues that perpetuate the illness, the brain chemistry of the alcoholic drives him back to the bottle over and over again, because alcohol mimics the effects of all major neurotransmitters. Alcohol and THIQs (created by alcohol) bind with receptor sites for the neurotransmitters GABA, serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, and more. When the alcoholic drinks, his brain ?thinks? it is receiving GABA or serotonin, and so the craving to drink is very strong, as alcohol causes the brain to temporarily feel as if it has all the right neurotransmitters. The alcoholic is dealing with very powerful problems of biochemistry. The linchpin of alcoholic brain chemistry involves the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma amino butyric acid).
Let's say, for example, that a man began drinking when he was 17 and stopped drinking when he was 37 years old. He is like a prisoner who has spent decades in jail. He has no clue how to live. However, the prisoner just released from prison has an advantage over the alcoholic, for he has had to learn, day-by-day, what coping skills will work best to keep him the happiest, safest, and most sane. He has had time to use his brain/mind to negotiate the difficult challenges of everyday life. The alcoholic has not developed any of the normal coping skills to deal with life's everyday stresses, and so he is emotionally raw and terrified in the face of dealing with anything. He has no tools at all.
He has lived in a dream world for 20 years, amongst a fiction of lies he has told himself. When he begins to ?wake up,? he asks himself, ?Who am I without alcohol?? and he has no answer, for his entire identity has been entangled with alcohol. He asks himself, ?What is my purpose? Why am I here?? and he has no answer, for he did not evolve a purpose the way others do. He is like a terrified child who is lost and abandoned, and he has lost his one source of love and consolation, namely the bottle. He has not developed inner mechanisms for healing old wounds. In essence he is facing a terrifying new world, and it does not look as good as the old world. And the ?promise? of a better life without alcohol does not seem real and feels more like a cruel lie??at least, especially when he is trying to give up alcohol, or even right after he has given it up.
Alcoholism requires a profound re-connecting of the spirit, a discovery of one's relationship to God, and finding the serenity of one's own Self or Soul. It is not surprising that the incidence of atheism in adolescence is much higher among alcoholics than it is for non-alcoholics. For some reason, that has not yet been identified, large numbers of future alcoholics lose faith during adolescence. They lose faith in themselves, their ability to cope, and in the existence of a soul, God, or a Higher Power.
After going through the trials and tribulations that finally lead to sobriety, he is face to face with his spiritual void. If he does not succeed in his spiritual quest, the risk of severe depression is quite high as is the risk of successful suicide.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the well-known 12-step program, is the best-developed program to help the alcoholic begin to reconnect at all levels. The whole purpose of AA is to put people in touch with God. However, the Big Book, as it is called, is often misused in alcohol treatment programs. I worked at Scripps MacDonald Center 's Drug and Alcohol Treatment program for many years and also worked at Mesa Vista Hospital 's drug and alcohol program.
As with anything else, it is important to clarify that those who propagate a message or technique are not always as pure as the source. The Bible is a good example! All too often I saw drug/alcohol rehab counselors treating AA more like a dogmatic religion than what is actually contained and recommended in the Big Book. I was kicked off the staff at Scripps MacDonald Center by the medical director, for using mental imagery techniques. I decided to come on staff after interviewing with the medical director and letting him know what I do, so I was a bit shocked to be told to leave, after having made it clear how I practice. I had developed a series of mental imagery techniques that supported each of the 12 steps. Subsequently, the medical director was fired for reasons I will not go into here! (Notice my small grin here).
Recently I spoke with a priest, who is a recovered alcoholic, who has worked in drug and alcohol rehab facilities, and who runs workshops with a Native American shaman. I gained greater clarity of the essence of the 12-steps, along with pitfalls on the road to recovery. Some of what follows comes out of my discussion with him.
The 12 Steps
Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol?that our lives had become unmanageable. The short version: ?I can't.?
Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. The short version: ?God can.?
Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him. Short version: ?I will let God.?
The shorthand way of understanding the first three steps is: ?I can't. God can. I will let him.? Steps 4 ? 9 have to do with the causes that brought on and perpetuates alcoholism, and in making amends. ?Making amends? involves more than saying, ?I am sorry.? It involves taking action to correct wrongs done to others. For example, if you owe someone money, you make amends by setting up a payment plan to pay off the debt.
The 12 steps intend to help the individual move from the small, ego-self, to an identification with one's inner essence, soul, atma, or spirit. The steps help people to get involved in helping others, to express gratitude, and to move out of the small mind, the selfish mind.
Sobriety is different from being ?undrunk,? and involves a metamorphosis, a spiritual transformation. The alcoholic who is truly on a healing journey moves from ?getting and forgetting? to ?giving and forgiving.? Every day he prays that his actions will not be driven by fear, greed, envy, or anger, but will be motivated by love, service, and gratitude. Each day the conscious, recovering alcoholic prays, ?Thy will, not my will.?
The alcoholic has been in a deep sleep for a very long time. Waking up is not easy, but a spiritual awakening is essential, for the body has been drugged, the mind poisoned, and the soul left to languish. Through the 12 steps, an individual begins to get in touch with God or a Higher Power and, over time, strives to deepen that connection. He also re-connects with family and friends at the level of love, rather than from the level of fear, addiction, lying, and manipulation. And he strives to quiet his mind to re-connect with Self.
The Priest and the Shaman
What role does the shaman play in the healing modality I am reviewing here? He is most concerned with helping the alcoholic re-connect with Mother Earth. The shaman teaches that the Earth does not belong to us, but we belong to the Earth. The shaman teaches that every breath is the breath of God, and that by simply becoming aware, present, and expressing gratitude to the elements of Mother Earth, one can become more fully re-connected. If we don't realize that our connection to the Earth is essential and that in alcoholism we have become disconnected from everything, total healing will not occur. The alcoholic, as well as the rest of us in the West, have lost our grounding and our ability to live in the Now and simply being present with ?what is.? All of us in the West, as part of our disconnect from Mother Earth, have become disconnected from natural, deep breathing. If you consider that the word ?inspire? means ?to breathe? as well as ?to be spiritually elevated,? you can appreciate the importance of our disconnection from Mother Earth and natural breathing that is part of a solid connection to Her.
No matter how you look at it, alcoholic recovery requires that one become free of the mind. There are endless techniques to help one become free of the mind, to quiet the mind, to find an inner stillness. It is not the point of this article to elaborate on techniques, but to underscore what is required for recovery.
The spiritual quest does not end after 5, 10, or 20 years of sobriety. It is a life-long process, which reaches fruition when life becomes a prayer. And, as outlined in past issues, alcoholic biochemistry does not self-correct. After ten years of sobriety, the underlying biochemical problems that gave rise to alcoholism and that became ingrained through years of drinking must be healed through comprehensive nutritional supplementation. When this task is accomplished, one no longer has alcoholic biochemistry. Being sound in body and mind makes spiritual work much easier.
The alcoholic learns, through AA, to live one day at a time. That is all any of us can do. We will evolve more quickly if we live one moment at a time, learning to surrender to and accept what IS in each and every moment. When we bring conscious awareness to what is going on in our body, mind, and spirit?in this moment, profound shifts in consciousness occur. Spiritual re-connection occurs at levels we never dreamt possible. Living life through a bottle is a life of limitation. Living a sober life, in which we fully experience each moment, is a life of peace, joy, and truly limitless possibilities. Spiritual re-connection is its own goal. While sobriety is the result of this re-connection to God, Self, and Nature, spiritual re-connection in-an-of-itself is the ultimate goal.
David Gersten, M.D. practices psychiatry and nutritional medicine out of his Encinitas office and can be reached at 760-633-3063. Please feel free to access 1,000 on-line pages about holistic health, amino acids, and nutritional therapy at www.aminoacidpower.com.