The concept of spirituality in relation to addiction recovery and general psychiatry.

This chapter is directed at defining the nature of spirituality and its relationship to empirical research and clinical practice.

A preliminary understanding of the spiritual experience can be achieved on the basis of diverse theoretical and empirically grounded sources, which will be delineated: namely, physiology, psychology, and cross-cultural sources.

Furthermore, the impact of spirituality on mental health and addiction in different cultural and clinical settings is explicated regarding both beneficial and compromising outcomes.

Illustrations of its application in addiction and general psychiatry are given: in meditative practices, Alcoholics Anonymous, and treatment programs for addiction singly and comorbid with major mental illness.

Given its prominence in Alcoholics Anonymous and related Twelve-Step groups, spirituality plays an important role in the rehabilitation of many substance-dependent people.

The issue of spirituality, however, is prominent within contemporary culture as well in the form of theistic orientation, as evidenced in a probability sampling of American adults, among whom 95% of respondents reply positively when asked if they believe in “God or a universal spirit.”

Responses to a follow-up on this question suggest that this belief affects the daily lives of the majority (51%) of those sampled, as they indicated that they had talked to someone about God or some aspect of their faith or spirituality within the previous 24 h.

Research report; Galanter M. The concept of spirituality in relation to addiction recovery and general psychiatry. Recent Dev Alcohol. 2008;18:125-40.

See also;

• AA Offers Recovery Not Religion
• ABC’s of Recovery
• Alcohol intervention may help.

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

1. AA & 12-Step Treatment
2. AA Can Help Most Alcoholics
3. Al-Anon offers new life
4. Alcohol and Anxiety
5. Alcoholic Defense Mechanisms
6. Alcoholics Anonymous and Nursing
7. Alcoholism Treatment in a Nursing Home
8. An Introduction to Medication for Alcohol Dependence
9. Anti-craving Drugs
10. Binge Drinking & Brain Damage
11. Brief Intervention in Emergency Room is Effective
12. Brief-TSF Description
13. Characteristics of Children of Alcoholic
14. Common Problems in Recovery
15. Counseling and the 12 Steps of AA
16. COUNSELOR CHARACTERISTICS
17. Craving Reduction
18. Depression & 12-Step Programs
19. Developing Willingness to Change
20. Dropout from 12-step self-help groups
21. Effects of gambling addiction
22. Foetal alcohol disorder linked to crime:
23. Free Training Alcoholism Anti-craving Medication
24. Gender Matching Hypothesis in Alcohol Treatment
25. Helping Alcoholics
26. Humility and Surrender
27. New Zealand’s spiritual aspects in 12-Step Treatment
28. Painkiller abuse
29. PTSD and Alcohol Addiction
30. Recovering Alcoholics Effective in Helping Others
31. Recovering People Working in the Recovery Field
32. Recovery through the Twelve Steps
33. Research Evidence for TSF
34. Risky Partners and Domestic Violence
35. Self-help Reduces Healthcare Demand
36. Sleep problems affect alcoholism recovery
37. Slogans for everyday life in AA
38. Spiritual assessment
39. Stages of an Eating Disorder
40. Strategies for Dealing with Common Problems
41. Strategies for Dealing With Crises
42. Strategies for Dealing With Denial
43. Symptoms of alcoholism
44. The 12-Steps Promote Acceptance of Addiction
45. Treating Alcoholism as a Chronic Disease
46. TSF Description
47. Twelve step programs
48. What about partners of alcoholics?
49. What About This Spiritual Awakening Thing
50. Women and the Twelve Steps of AA
51. World view change in Adult Children of Alcoholics

Bulimia Nervosa and Substance Use Disorder Similarities and Differences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare bulimia nervosa (BN) and substance use disorders (SUD) in cognitive-motivational terms.

The cognitive orientation theory was used as a framework for testing the hypothesis that the commonality between BN and SUD consists of a similar motivational disposition for eating disorders, rather than for addiction, as was previously claimed.

It was expected that BN and SUD patients would differ from controls but not from each other.

The participants were 31 BN, 20 SUD, and 20 healthy controls. They were administered questionnaires for assessing anxiety, depression, addiction and the cognitive orientation for eating disorders.

On most parameters BN and SUD scored higher than controls but did not differ from each other except in norm beliefs.

Treatment of BN should consider the similarity of BN to SUD in the pathological tendency for eating disorders.

Research; Bulimia Nervosa and Substance Use Disorder Similarities and Differences; A. Ram;  D. Stein;  S. Sofer; S. Kreitler. Eating Disorders, Volume 16, Issue 3 May 2008 , pages 224 – 240

See also;

• Recovery MP3 tracks for all 12-Step Fellowships
• HALT being Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
• If you have healthcare training this manual may help.
• Subscribe to Twelve Step Facilitation by e-Mail