Happy Holidays

Dr. Marvin D. Seppala, Medical Director, CEO
Beyond Addictions

The Holidays are a wonderful time to be in recovery and they can be a very difficult time. It’s a time of great joy and a common time for problems and relapse. It’s a time that a lot of people get sober, but also a time for partying and excess use of alcohol and drugs. This newsletter has articles that will help you enjoy the Holidays with tips for a sober and joyous Holiday Season, advice for families, and recovery events occurring in the Portland area over the Holidays.

The first time people in recovery go through the Holidays can be trouble. The Holidays are known for mixed emotions under the best of circumstances. For those in early recovery these emotions often include a generous helping of shame and guilt. Memories of celebrations gone awry and the damage that occurred during active use of drugs and alcohol can undermine the best of intentions. Some people have memories of horrifying experiences from their own childhood that can limit any attempts to get into the spirit of the Holidays. It can be a very lonely time, even among friends and family. Some people have burned all those bridges and may no longer have anyone to rejoice with. It’s dangerous to spend the Holidays alone. It’s important to increase recovery activities and learn how to celebrate in recovery.

The Holidays offer many opportunities to get outside of ourselves and focus on service and expression of love. Most cultures emphasize giving this time of year, and how better than to give of ourselves? There are ample opportunities for service within 12 Step programs, and plenty of other people who could benefit from your friendship. Many organizations need volunteers over the Holidays. Giving to others will always take the focus off our own problems.

The end of the year is a time for reflection and gratitude. It’s an important time to gauge one’s growth, and to honor the changes that have occurred. Take a good look at how far you’ve come, and how you’ve changed. Determine what changes you want to bring with you into the New Year and those you still need to work on. It is also a good time to put the year behind and move on. Examine your hopes and dreams for the New Year as you acknowledge the lessons of the old year. Make a list of those things you are grateful for that occurred in 2007. Tell someone else about your gratitude list. Contact those people that played a role in your recovery during the past year and thank them. Gather together with family and friends and celebrate what was right and good in 2007. We have a lot to celebrate!

Is a Spiritual Solution Necessary?

Dr. Marvin Seppala, Medical Director, CEO
Beyond Addictions

Dramatic advances in the brain sciences have resulted in an increased acceptance of addiction as a disease. New psychotherapies are being promoted for addiction treatment. We know the areas of the brain involved in addiction, the neurotransmitters (especially dopamine) that carry the information from one brain cell to another, and we know the receptor sites that exist for all addicting substances. Pharmaceutical companies are devoting money and resources to finding medications that could help people stay sober. Where does all this new information leave the use of spirituality in addiction treatment?

Throughout his sobriety, Bill Wilson, one of the founders of AA, tried to find new means to help others get into recovery, and it is a necessary pursuit. Neurobiology research has shown that addiction alters the reward center and associated areas of the brain. Current theory suggests that drug or alcohol use becomes the most important drive, limiting the priority given to other human needs, like food, sleep, friendship and family. It is as if addiction alters one’s memory to establish a sort of super-memory of the “high” that can preclude, at end- stage addiction, other human needs. This helps to explain some of the bizarre behaviors that define addiction: lying, cheating, stealing, ignoring family, losing jobs and risking lives. Since the drive to continue to use drugs and alcohol supersedes other rewarding activities, how can people think themselves out of it? Cognitive attempts to address addiction are inadequate if our sub-conscious reward system drives addiction.

The scientists have established that addiction is a brain disease and I believe that it is also a disease of the soul. Life itself is in the balance, and due to the power of addiction our own brain convinces us to risk it all, and compromise everything that is important. It is here that the role of spirituality makes tremendous sense in response to the new information about addiction as a brain disease. We need something even more powerful than the drug in order to successfully address addiction. The AA textbook states, “The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.” If a new medication resulted in sudden abstinence it would not change the necessity of recovery using a spiritual program. Abstinence is not recovery. Healing, life change and personal growth would still have to occur for the individual to move on and lead a life they can enjoy and be proud of, and I do not know of a more effective and powerful way for this to occur than using a 12 Step program. The 12 Steps are based on spiritual principles that, combined with the fellowship of a 12 Step program, promote healing and establish a new way of life.

Neurobiology and the social sciences support what people in 12 Step recovery have known all along. The spirituality of 12 Step programs provides the opportunity for the individual to look outside themselves, recognize limitations, admit they have a disease, and turn to a power greater than themselves for a solution. We need spirituality in addiction treatment; it can be the foundation of long-term recovery and establishes the ability to change, not just remain abstinent, using the 12 Steps.