The time has come for us, as a society, to shift our current understanding of addiction to a higher consciousness. Addiction is trying to teach us something, but we seem to be missing the point. If we ever hope to successfully address this issue, a new perspective on addiction and recovery is necessary.

Swiss psychologist Dr. Carl Jung believed that addiction was a thirst for wholeness. Wholeness encompasses all aspects of life and humanity as one unit, not divided by time, knowledge, or physical location. Philosophers have speculated that addiction is the soul’s way of overcoming the perceived separation from the Divine Presence. If this is true then what is happening to all of the people in this world who are actively addicted? Their soul is moving them in this direction for a reason. Is the epidemic of addiction a sign that our society is also searching for wholeness?

The collective consciousness of a society reflects the personality, prejudices, sensitivities, values, and consciousness of its individual members. The prevalence of addiction itself indicates that as a society we must search externally for something to quell an inner yearning, that we must control and manipulate in order to maintain a sense of power. It indicates that, as a society, we do not have the skills to appropriately deal with conflict, or to even recognize every individual’s value as a human being.

Our resistance to dealing with the issue indicates that we are still more concerned with appearances than with spiritual growth. It also suggests that as a society we have not yet learned the practical application of spiritual principles on a daily basis, that we are spiritually unbalanced. If addiction is a spiritual issue for the individual, then we must ask ourselves if the same holds true for society. Are the millions of people addicted to food, drugs, alcohol, sex, work, gambling, spending, and relationships experiencing a spiritual hunger that members of 12-Step fellowships are so familiar with? Are their souls using addiction as a vehicle to move them onto a spiritual path?

Both the addicted individual and the addicted society experience an incongruence of values. Both are attempting to use external sources to heal an internal yearning. Both use denial to avoid acknowledging painful aspects of their identity. Both are intrinsically self-centered to the extreme. Both think the world revolves around them. Both want to avoid the issue of addiction completely.

The millions of people who are addicted or in recovery play an important role in transforming our world. Members of 12-Step fellowships model exceptional skills that many people have not yet learned, such as knowing how to peacefully coexist with others regardless of spiritual practices and promptly making amends after choices that prove in some way harmful. They are further taught to place “principles before personalities,” and to refrain from holding resentments or seeking revenge. When in conflict, members understand the importance of looking at their part in whatever situation they find themselves in rather than blaming. While they may continue to fall short of their stated goals for living a spiritual life, they have a formula that allows them to learn from their challenges and commit again to their path.

As we expand our understanding of the role addiction is playing within society, we can begin to address the underlying issues. It will be the supposedly “common people” taking uncommon action that will set our society on the path to recovery from the unmanageability we are experiencing. People like you and me. As a society, we must learn to honor addiction as a life lesson, which serves to lead us individually and collectively to a higher consciousness.

Tammy Peacock MeGahee, LCSW, is a private practice counselor based in Birmingham, Alabama. She is the host of the Human Potential Series and the author of Beyond Anonymity: A Commitment to a Higher Consciousness (www.beyondanonymity.com).

This article is published in Counselor,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, October 2004, v.5, n.5, p. 34

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