Alcohol Addiction Treatment: A Recovery Model that Unites the Biological and the Spiritual
Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, M.D., Resident Physician in Psychiatry, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Nathan Pederson, MDiv., MA, University of Chicago Divinity School
In considering how medicine might be re-enchanted today, our paper will consider some of the most recent insights on alcohol addiction and its effect on the brain in the area of addiction medicine, where we will show the importance of immaterial aspects for material effects. Upon these considerations, and especially in light of the theme of Weber’s disenchantment, a second and constructive move in our paper will be to propose key elements of a philosophical foundation to support this interaction between the material and the immaterial - the re-enchantment of medicine.
To re-enchant medicine means to challenge the notion that all can be reduced to the technological and calculable and that the material world might be acted on by forces outside of the technological and calculable. Here we can begin to consider the matter of alcohol treatment in addiction medicine. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one area in which there are medications, but typically medication alone is insufficient and relapses are common. The non-biologic can influence the structure of brain tissue, transmitters and receptors. Prolonged abstinence can result in sustained changes in the brain’s frontal cortex structure and function. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) exemplifies the influence of spiritual development on brain structure and function. Galanter, et al, suggest that it is possible that reading AA prayers reduce cravings. Among 20 long term abstinent AA members, activity on fMRI studies was higher following reading AA prayers compared to reading irrelevant news or passive reading. In addition, an important study suggests that psychosocial well being can be enhanced as spiritual transcendence is achieved leading to decreased alcohol consumption. The biological acceptance of a diseased brain is a crucial step in recovery as one seeks out material and immaterial resources.
Having established that in this area we see the immaterial having effect on the material, we will attempt to re-situate the philosophical/theological foundation away from Weber’s modernism and the disenchantment it demands. Here we will show how recent work in postmodern theology, specifically, for example, J. Caputo’s insights, surfaces the importance of hermeneutical and paradigmatic thinking. We will discuss the promise of a postmodern theological foundation via Caputo, and will deepen our reflections through considering the hermeneutical thinking of P. Ricoeur and the paradigmatic thinking of T. Kuhn. This re-oriented foundation will provide for a path toward re-enchantment as it will secure a foundation for what our research calls for: the recognition that the immaterial cannot be closed off from the material.
Nathan Pederson, MDiv., MA, University of Chicago Divinity School
In considering how medicine might be re-enchanted today, our paper will consider some of the most recent insights on alcohol addiction and its effect on the brain in the area of addiction medicine, where we will show the importance of immaterial aspects for material effects. Upon these considerations, and especially in light of the theme of Weber’s disenchantment, a second and constructive move in our paper will be to propose key elements of a philosophical foundation to support this interaction between the material and the immaterial - the re-enchantment of medicine.
To re-enchant medicine means to challenge the notion that all can be reduced to the technological and calculable and that the material world might be acted on by forces outside of the technological and calculable. Here we can begin to consider the matter of alcohol treatment in addiction medicine. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one area in which there are medications, but typically medication alone is insufficient and relapses are common. The non-biologic can influence the structure of brain tissue, transmitters and receptors. Prolonged abstinence can result in sustained changes in the brain’s frontal cortex structure and function. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) exemplifies the influence of spiritual development on brain structure and function. Galanter, et al, suggest that it is possible that reading AA prayers reduce cravings. Among 20 long term abstinent AA members, activity on fMRI studies was higher following reading AA prayers compared to reading irrelevant news or passive reading. In addition, an important study suggests that psychosocial well being can be enhanced as spiritual transcendence is achieved leading to decreased alcohol consumption. The biological acceptance of a diseased brain is a crucial step in recovery as one seeks out material and immaterial resources.
Having established that in this area we see the immaterial having effect on the material, we will attempt to re-situate the philosophical/theological foundation away from Weber’s modernism and the disenchantment it demands. Here we will show how recent work in postmodern theology, specifically, for example, J. Caputo’s insights, surfaces the importance of hermeneutical and paradigmatic thinking. We will discuss the promise of a postmodern theological foundation via Caputo, and will deepen our reflections through considering the hermeneutical thinking of P. Ricoeur and the paradigmatic thinking of T. Kuhn. This re-oriented foundation will provide for a path toward re-enchantment as it will secure a foundation for what our research calls for: the recognition that the immaterial cannot be closed off from the material.