The War of the Gods in Addiction

The War of the Gods in Addiction

David E. Shoen

New Orleans. LA, Spring Journal, Inc., 2009, 162 pp.

David E. Shoen’s book The War of the Gods in Addiction offers a Jungian perspective into the mindset of recovering addicts. By definition addiction has two parts. First, the addictive substance, activity or behaviour must ultimately take over complete control of the individual psychologically; and this control is inherently destructive and ultimately life-threatening. Shoen quotes Teilhard de Chardin: “the addiction becomes a god to which the addict is completely subjected.” In their well-known correspondence, Bill Wilson, a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Carl Jung both agreed that a spiritual experience was necessary to hold addiction at bay. Jung admitted that analysis alone failed one of his analysands and was glad to hear that he eventually turned up on Bill Wilson’s doorstep.

Schoen describes spiritual experience and how it transforms the addict. There is a catch-phrase in the program called “hitting bottom,” which is a prelude to the experience. In the desperation of having nowhere else to turn except suicide, the alcoholic may cry out “Oh God, if there is a God, please help me. I am willing to do whatever it takes.” Shoen elaborates on the archetypal shadow/archetypal evil formation and how it eventually degenerates into a complete diabolical subjugation to archetypal evil. Then he describes how the complex can be treated.

The addiction takes many forms because the obsessive-compulsive behaves in a way unique to his/her story. It is in sharing this story that the addict can find common ground. The safe supportive environment of kindred spirits is prepared to deal with the addiction-shadow complex. Thinking he/she is alone, the alcoholic shares his insanity with other suffering alcoholics who identify and reveal the depths to which they had also sunk. No longer alone, the addict feels relief immediately. Loneliness and rejection are what the suffering addict usually experiences in society.

The healing process begins when kindred spirits who, by sharing, maintain their own recovery. The relativization of the ego occurs as defeat is admitted. Accepting defeat means using the twelve steps to recover. Of course it is made easier within a safe and accepting environment. The aggrandized ego thinks himself a god. As often is claimed by someone sharing, “I had an inferiority complex masquerading as a superiority complex.” Shoen analyses the twelve steps in psychological terms and it’s a worthy read. Ego/shadow complexes return but now the addict has the tools with which to ‘do battle.’

The recovering addict develops a connection with a “higher power.” Some analysts would call this higher power the self or wholeness. Some agnostics use Good Orderly Direction. AA counsels agnostics and atheists to keep an open mind. In ,••• personal belief systems are helpful in this regard. Shoen describes this part of the process as maintaining an ego-self axis. He provides a survey of ideas about trans-personal good and evil and their existence or non-existence.

I couldn’t help but think about the singer Tom Waits lyric “there is no god. There’s just the devil when he’s drunk.” The Buddhist might say that when one conceives of good, one creates its opposite, which is neither good nor evil. I wonder what Waits was thinking in his drunken song!

Since the battle against addiction must be fought, then we must assume the existence of a higher power and we must make peace with our personal shadow and incorporate its existence in a life-enhancing manner.

I heard of one alcoholic who made a bar of soap his higher power. After a few months he changed to a belief that was more substantial. A couple of years later he overheard his mentor in the program jokingly brag to another that he had once convinced a newcomer to believe that a bar of soap was his higher power. The alcoholic, now secure in his sobriety, laughed at the image of himself, surprised that he had once felt that way

Shoen maintains that it is not necessary to come to a decision on the existence of trans-personal good or evil. Indeed Alcoholics Anonymous uses a practical approach and is basically open about personal beliefs or any lack thereof. The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. While there are no musts in AA, there are helpful suggestions.

Once the first battle of the gods has succeeded, sobriety must be maintained. Therefore, the personal shadow has to be confronted and integrated. AA’s do this with the fourth and fifth steps. One makes a personal inventory and shares the insights with a trusted third party. This is not a confession but rather a realization of the good and evil for which one is responsible. It is important to be fair with oneself. Guilt is non-productive. Admitting one’s faults and making an effort to correct them is the right approach.

I brought Shoen’s concepts to an AA discussion meeting and briefly summarized Shoen’s ideas in the discussion. Their reactions varied from “let the devil go back to hell and we’ll get on with the practical nuts and bolts of keeping sober” to “if I don’t come to these meetings, my worst side will take over to and I might kill someone.” A native person remembered asking one of his brethren why they committed such crimes. One response was “the devil made them do these things.” A visitor from England mentioned that there were only two things that might cause him to slip back into the old ways: “big I, or poor me.”

Another member was very taken with the concept of the relativizing of the ego. He felt this described the relationship of spiritual awakening and desperation as a dual process that for some people became a transcendent experience. One might even say that the ego’s loss of control relieves the psyche of energy used in maintaining a sham. This relief inspires gratefulness. That state of gratitude can be called a state of grace and therefore a joyful spiritual feeling is felt.

Shoen’s close work with alcoholics reveals an intimacy with the program. Just as Jungian analysts must undergo analysis before practicing, alcoholics respond best to help from other alcoholics. He works on the firing line, and I think this fine book should be recommended reading for medical practitioners who inevitably come in contact with alcoholics, and addicts of all types.

–Patrick Pietrykowski