Spirituality, the meaning of life and the craving for alcohol in the process of rehabilitation from alcohol addiction

Nekatere študije so ugotovile, da želja po alkoholu, opredeljena kot stopnja, do katere se oseba počuti obvezanega piti ob prisotnosti notranjih ali zunanjih sprožilcev, povezanih z alkoholom, napoveduje izid zdravljenja alkoholizma. Medtem, ko je duhovnost v literaturi vse bolj prepoznana kot bistveni dejavnik v zdravljenju zasvojenosti z alkoholom, ostaja v medicinskih krogih še vedno precej spregledan element. V zadnjem desetletju se dogajajo spremembe tudi na tem področju. Obstaja namreč vse več znanstvenih raziskav, ki potrjujejo, da duhovne izkušnje dramatično spreminjajo naše možgane v čustvovanju, vedenju in učenju, v občutku povezanosti in prepustitve, v razmišljanju o eksistencialnih vprašanjih ter v zaznavanju smisla. Kot pravi Viktor Frankl, se človek šele z zornega kota duhovnosti zave svojega avtentičnega jaza in svoje odgovornosti. Enkrat, ko bolezen zasvojenosti napreduje, alkohol prevzame krmilo, izguba duhovnosti pa postane bolj izrazita. Duhovni vidik zdravljenja alkoholizma se ukvarja s človekovim »duhovnim prebujenjem«, občutkom smisla v življenju in vključuje posameznikov odnos do sebe, sveta in do nečesa, kar ga presega. Ni nujno, da definicija duhovnosti vključuje tudi religijo. Duhovnost je širša, manj formalna kot religija, ki se nanaša na niz prepričanj in načel, obema pa je skupno iskanje svetega oz. presežnega. Ena od oblik zdravljenja alkoholizma je skupnost Anonimnih Alkoholikov (AA). Njihov duhovnih program Dvanajst korakov in dvanajst izročil alkoholiku nudi pot, da razvije polno in zadovoljno življenje brez alkohola. V magistrskem delu smo v empiričnem delu predstavili rezultate kvantitativne raziskave, v katero je bilo vključenih 167 posameznikov. Med njimi je bilo 55 vključenih v eno izmed oblik zdravljenja alkoholizma, 114 pa je bilo takšnih, ki niso bili vključeni v nobeno zdravljenje. Ugotovili smo, da prihaja do statistično pomembne povezanosti med dimenzijami dnevnih duhovnih izkušenj, zaznavanju smisla v življenju ter željo po alkoholu. Več kot je bilo duhovnih izkušenj, manjša je bila želja po alkoholu in bolj pogoste dnevne duhovne izkušnje so prav tako pomenile več občutka smisla v življenju. Večji, kot je bil občutek smisla v življenju, manjša je bila želja po alkoholu. Glede na stopnjo smisla smo ugotovili, da prihaja do pomembnih razlik v pogostosti dnevnih duhovnih izkušenj, kjer so imele osebe v območju bivanjske varnosti bolj pogoste dnevne duhovne izkušnje kot osebe v območju bivanjskega vakuuma. Tudi osebe, v območju bivanjske frustracije so imele bolj pogoste dnevne duhovne izkušnje, kot osebe v območju bivanjskega vakuuma. Razlike, glede na stopnjo smisla v življenju, niso pokazale na statistično pomembnost v želji po alkoholu. Primerjava med osebami, ki so bile vključene v eno izmed oblik zdravljenja alkoholizma in osebami na splošno, ki niso bile vključene v zdravljenje, je pokazala, da obstaja statistično pomembna razlika v dnevnih duhovnih izkušnjah, ta se je izkazala za bolj pogosto pri osebah, ki so vključene v zdravljenje ter v želji po alkoholu, ki je prav tako manj izrazita pri osebah, vključenih v zdravljenje. Primerjava pa ni pokazala na statistično pomembne razlike med skupinama glede na občutek smisla v življenju.Some studies have found that alcohol craving, defined as the degree to which a person feels compelled to drink in the presence of internal or external alcohol-related triggers, is predictive of alcoholism treatment outcome. While spirituality is increasingly recognized in the literature as an essential factor in the treatment of alcohol addiction, it still remains a largely overlooked element in medical circles. In the last decade, changes have been taking place in this area as well. There is more and more scientific research that confirms that spiritual experiences dramatically alter our brain in relation to emotions, behavior and learning and the feeling of connection and letting go, thinking about existential questions and to the perception of meaning. According to Viktor Frankl, a person only becomes aware of his authentic self and his responsibility from the point of view of spirituality. Once the disease of addiction progresses, alcohol takes over and the loss of spirituality becomes more pronounced. The spiritual aspect of alcoholism treatment deals with a person\u27s "spiritual awakening," a sense of meaning in life, and includes the individual\u27s relationship to self, the world, and something beyond. The definition of spirituality does not necessarily include religion. Spirituality is broader, less formal than religion, which refers to a set of beliefs and principles, and both have a common search for the sacred or transcendental. One form of treatment of alcoholism is the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) community. Their spiritual program Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions provides the alcoholic with a path to develop a full and contented life without alcohol. In the empirical part of the thesis, we presented the results of a quantitative research in which 167 individuals were involved. Among them, 55 were included in one form of treatment for alcoholism, while 114 were not included in any treatment. We found that there is a statistically significant connection between the dimensions of daily spiritual experiences, the perception of meaning in life and the desire for alcohol. The more spiritual experiences there were, the lower the desire for alcohol, and more frequent daily spiritual experiences also meant a greater sense of meaning in life. The greater the sense of meaning in life, the lower the desire for alcohol. Depending on the level of meaning, we found that there are differences in the frequency of daily spiritual experiences, where people in the area of existential security had better frequent daily spiritual experiences than people in the area of residential vacuum. People in the area of frustration also had more frequent daily spiritual experiences comparing to people in existential vacuum. Differences according to the level of meaning in life did not show statistical significance in the desire for alcohol. A comparison between people who were involved in one form of treatment for alcoholism and people in general who were not involved in treatment showed that there was a statistically significant difference in daily spiritual experiences, which turned out to be more common in people who are involved in treatment and in the desire for alcohol, which is also less pronounced in persons involved in treatment. The comparison, however, did not show statistically significant differences between the groups regarding the sense of meaning in life