Category Archives: Substance Abuse

substance and chemical abuse/addiction issues as they relate to PTSD/trauma

The God of Self

14 Wednesday Jul 2010

Posted by in Anthropology, New Posts, PTSD, Substance Abuse, Theology, Veritology

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Every veteran who enters our program struggles with “loving themselves”. Drugs, alcohol, depression, PTSD, are the familiar culprits which rob people of loving themselves. Notice here, I am differentiating between “loving yourself” from the contemporary social definition of “self-esteem”.
Jesus’ command to “Love your neighbor as yourself”, is misunderstood today. It’s the “Love yourself” part that many people misconstrue with self-esteem. Self-esteem is a psychologically oriented concept where self-love is a biblical one. The former is subjective and has led many to worship a God of Self.
This self-love which Jesus is talking about is not about self-esteem, self-acceptance, or even having a positive self-image. The kind of love that Jesus means in loving your “neighbor” is the same meaning of love he has for “yourself”. For instance, you are loving (seeking the good) of your neighbor when you help him care for his lawn, provide him with a occassional meal, or take in his mail. These are things you do as acts of love and service. In the same regard, you would want your neighbor to love you reciprocally with these same acts of service.
Another way of saying it is by the way the Golden Rule says that we must, “Love others as you would want them to love you”. The addict, alcoholic, or any person, for that matter, must see that it is “self-love” not “self-esteem” that’s driving the train here. This is a value grounded in God not self. The self (flesh) is deceptive no matter how you look at it.
John Piper rightly identifies the difference by saying that, “How you feel when you look at your life will be determined by whether you see it as a true reflection of you values. If you see ugliness when you value beauty, you will feel bad. If you see laziness when you value diligence you will feel bad; but if you see industriousness and rigor you will feel good. The intensity of how bad or good you feel will vary according to the greatness of the value and the degree of success or failure in realizing it. Thus, whether one has a positive or negative self-image will depend on whether or not he attains what he values.” (ref: Self-Love and the Christian Counselor’s Task, Sermon: http://www.desiringgod.org/resourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1978/ 2645).
Think of it this way; self-image is grounded in self. According to Scripture, “self” needs redemption. Self-love, on the other hand is grounded in God…because He made you in His image!

You Got to Deal With It!

07 Friday May 2010

Posted by in New Posts, PTSD, Substance Abuse

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“Oh, I’m fine. Everything is all right Chaplain. Don’t worry about me–it’ll go away”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard veterans suffering from PTSD say these words to me in counseling.
Denial is never good when dealing with mental or physical illness, drug abuse, addictive or abusive behavior, illegal activities, or sexual abuse. A well known author on the subject of trauma talks about these feelings and calls them a “noisy Heart.” Other options that some people use for evasion include:

-Rationalization: an attempt to convinve yourself and others that the situation is not really what it seems to be.
-Repression: an attempt to puch all troubles from their minds.
-Displacement: an attempt to shift a person’s reactions from one subject to another.
-Projection: an attempt to attribute one;s own thoughts, motives, and actions to other people.
-Reaction Formatting: an attempt to substitute an acceptable feeling or motive for its opposite. (Wayne Oates, Nuturing Silence in a Noisy Heart)

The 12 Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons

02 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by in New Posts, Substance Abuse

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STEP 1 – Conviction of Self
We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors.  That our lives had become unmanageable.
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  (Romans 7:18 NIV)

STEP 2 – Seeking God’s Power
Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to act according to His good purpose.  (Phil. 2:13)

STEP 3 – Surrender to Christ
Made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God as we understood Him.
I urge you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.  (Romans 12:1)

STEP 4 & 5 – Confessions of Wrongs
Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:30)

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed (James 5:16a)

STEPS 6 & 7 – Submit to God’s Changes in Your Life
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.  (James 4:10)

Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9)

 STEPS 8 & 9 – Make Amends and Offer Forgiveness
Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you.  (Luke 6:31)

Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.  (Matthew 5:23-24)

STEP 10 – Keep a Daily Inventory
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.  (1 Corinthians 10:12)

STEP 11 – Grow Closer to God
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.  (Colossians 3:16a)

STEP 12 – Help Others by Serving
Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in al our affairs.
Brothers, if a man is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you may also be tempted.  (Galatians 6:1)