Why do they call alcoholism/addiction a spiritual sickness?

First of all, we let's define what "spiritual" means. Spiritual is NOT the same as religious. Spiritual describes connections outside ourselves. The most basic of these connections are with other people.

When we are active alcoholics or addicts we lose connections with people. We seek solitude so that people will stop hassling us over our substance use. We lie to, use, cheat, and steal from those we love. Our behavior offends people and pushes them away.  It is in the nature of our affliction to seek solitude. It is with good reason that alcoholism/addiction is called the "lonely disease." We have lost any meaningful connections with other people, the most basic of spiritual connection.


The people we end up hanging around with when we are actively drinking or using care nothing about us. I know quite a few addicts who tell me that when they OD'd their "friends" robbed them of their drugs and money and did nothing to help them. These people don't come see us when we end up in hospital or detox. It's not their fault, they are physically, mentally, and spiritually sick with alcohol or drug addiction, like us. Connections with these people are not spiritual connections between people, they are drug connections.

Science has taken a serious look at spirituality since the 1990s. It has been well known in the medical field that people who were spiritually connected recovered much better from illness were more well-adjusted to life than those who aren't. For science to ignore this was to ignore something that has a major impact on treating the sick. Twenty years of scientific study has shown the value of spirituality on many aspects of health and well-being. In addiction/alcoholism it is crucial. Here's why.

Some people can wake up one morning and say I've been drinking too much, or doing too much coke, it's time to give it up and then simply walk away from it. That's great, but alcoholic/addicts who can't, who have tried over and over again to quit have a few characteristics in common.  They believe they can do it themselves, picking and choosing what outside help they take, but they must always be in charge. They fail multiple times but still believe they can do it (see "The Insanity of Alcoholism/Addiction" Click Here).

After these multiple failures, they eventually feel hopeless, and resigned to their addiction to alcohol or drugs. It is then that they start to think about death as the only way out. (See "I'm Overwhelmed!" Click Here).

Over 80 years of experience with millions of alcoholics and addicts who successfully found life-long sobriety has shown that these "hopeless" people can't become sober on our own, but we can together as a group. Scientific study has shown many reasons why this "together" approach works, a few of which are:

• being around people who have achieved sobriety shows us that it can be done
• we learn from them how to do it
• they provide the day-to-day support we need
• we instinctively wish to be part of the group, a culture of sobriety, so we adopt their values, which are centered around sobriety.
• we form new friendships with sober people, rather than maintaining old friendships with those who we drank or used with

This connection we have with others is spirituality. This is why we say that a spiritual cure to our addiction/alcoholism is essential. Some diseases affect us physically, some mentally, and some spiritually. Our disease affects us on all three levels. However, there is no physical cure for it -- we will not walk out of our doctor's office cured -- and there is no mental cure for it -- counselling alone will not save us. The doctor and counsellor can be a valuable part of our recovery, but they alone can't do it. Our reprieve from our disease must be spiritual, by connecting with others like us.

Three levels of spirituality

Spirituality -- this connection with something outside of ourselves -- occurs on three levels: 1) connection with other people, 2) connection with the world around us and nature, and 3) connection with something beyond nature that is a guiding force in the universe. For many people, spirituality consists only of the first two. However, complete spiritual wellness comes when we are at least open to some force of the universe that is greater than ourselves. It's up to us to define what that force is, if we need to.

We have already discussed spiritual connectedness on the first level - with other people. When we have quality connections with others we experience benefits that help us along in life. When we are dealing with the strong arm of addiction to drugs or alcohol we need that spiritual connection with other addicts or alcoholics, who truly understand us. What about the second level of spirituality - connection to the world around us.

The other day when I was volunteering at a detox facility one of the patients there commented on how much he was enjoying the beautiful day and admiring the trees, the sky, and all the life round him. He said that for the last few years of his drinking an using he spent all his time indoors with the curtains shut, and his only connection with anyone or anything was the TV. Even his drugs and alcohol were brought to his house. He had lost all connection with the world around him. Now, with his mind starting to clear, he is suddenly awakening to a spiritual connection with nature and the world around him. And he's just beginning.

My personal experience was similar. I spent all my time on my couch or in bed, and half the time I didn't even know if it was day or night. I had no connection with the world around me. Since becoming sober I have connected with the world in a meaningful way. I take walks in the morning where I breath the fresh air and drink in the beauty of the world around me and enjoy the stars at night. I somehow feel connected to these things simply by appreciating them and feeling grateful for their beauty and my ability to enjoy them. This helps my sobriety, because it helps fill that emptiness, and I don't want to lose it again.

Something greater than ourselves

People who wish to explore their spirituality should try to connect on all three levels. Many don't know what a higher power is for them, but we shouldn't expend much effort in figuring it out. For those who belong to a religious faith, they already have an understanding of a higher power. If we don't it will come to us with time. Almost always when we are not even looking.

Overwhelming amounts of psychological study have shown the physical and mental health benefits of connection with a higher power. The ones that most apply to us are: improved sense of well-being, better self-control, better acceptance of life's problems, lower anxiety and stress levels, and reduced drug and alcohol use.

A higher power can go by many names: a life force, a power of the universe, a creative intelligence, love, God. Some people use music, or a group that's meaningful to them, or nature. It's not something we come to understand by sitting and thinking about it, it's something that comes to us a s we grow in spirituality. But it's a powerful resource we shouldn't ignore. Science is no longer ignoring it.

Alcoholism and addiction is a disease that makes us physically sick, mentally ill, and spiritually sick. The spiritual approach to finding sobriety is the proven way to finding life worth living again, and gives us extremely rewarding connections outside of ourselves.



To learn more about the science and psychology of addiction and recovery, and to understand why alcoholics and addicts behave the way they do, see the author's book The Alcoholic / Addict Within.

Available for sample or purchase in paperback and ebook editions at amazon.com (Click Here).