[Question:]{.underline} Does alcoholism deprive one of the use of free will?
[Answer:]{.underline} Innumerable are the writings on alcoholism, and nearly as numerous are the explanations of the etiology of this disorder. The concern here is about the very particular question of the complex relationship between alcoholism and free will, upon which depends our understanding of the impact of alcoholism on the spiritual life, and the spiriutal life on alcoholism.
Professionals who deal with alcoholics on a regular basis all agree that alcoholism is a disease, and a disease that runs in families. But what kind of disease is it? Either it would seem to be a physical and hereditary disorder, over which a man has no control, or it would seem that it is a disorder that a man brings upon himself by his substance abuse, so that it is consequently voluntary and willful, both in its roots and in a man’s refusal to overcome it. The first explanation denies free will, the second places it fairly and squarely in the domain of free will. There are tenants of both positions. However, both explanations, one denying the alcoholic’s free will, and the other attributing the disorder precisely to his free will, are both far too simplistic to account for the reality.
A PERSONALITY DISORDER
In fact, alcholism is a psychological disease, but not such as to destroy free will nor one that is untreatable, but one which can be overcome by heroic acts of free will. It is a psychological disease, because it is not simply the fact of drinking to excess, whether it be binge drinking or regular drinking, whether it be intoxication or a more controlled abuse. There are plenty of non-alcoholics who drink to excess. It is an entirely deliberate act. They chose to do so without any compulsion. Their personalities undergo no substantial change when they drink, other than the symptoms of intoxication. Entirely different is the alcoholic, who typically becomes quite a different person when he drinks: such as violent, abusive, depressive, anxious, antisocial, reclusive - in a word quite self-centered. This change reveals the fundamental weakness of character of the alcoholic. Although frequently highly intelligent and successful, considerate and kind, gregarious and friendly, he lacks self-confidence, does not believe in himself, is sensitive to the extreme, is frequently paranoid and paralyzed by human respect. It is this particular weakness, from which he says no way out, that drives him to escape from reality by the use of alcohol. It is consequently a compulsion, and not a choice of deliberate free will.
In this regard, alcholism is similar to the other neuroses, and different from psychoses, such as schizophrenia, which is of a physical nature and does destroy free will and also both culpability and the ability to gain merits. The psychotic is out of contact with reality and cannot direct human acts to their goal, the greater glory of God and the observance of the commandments. Not so, the neurotic. He can understand the disorder of his anxiety or depression or phobia, but feels unable to correct it, at least directly. Likewise with alcoholism. The alcoholic can understand the disorder of his excessive alcohol intake, and even that of his character weakness, but he still frequently feels unable to do anything about it. This in turns leads to the sense of hopelessness and the tendency to flee from reality by drinking. It is for this reason that he seems incapable of self will, of making a serious decision to stop drinking, which is what the friends and relatives find so frustrating in dealing with the alcoholic. It is not that, absolutely speaking, he lacks the will power, but that the compulsion makes it very difficult for him to exercise it.
EGOCENTRICITY
However, there is another and fundamental underlying characteristic of the neurotic personality, that is typically characteristic of the alcoholic. There is in him a non-deliberate, but structured, egocentricity, that is an organized, determined preoccupation with his own self, which is at the root of his disease. It is not the deliberate and willful egocentricity of the selfish person, but one produced by previous events, over which he has no choice. This is what Dr. Rudolf Allers, the famous Catholic Austrian psychiatrist had to say about this underlying characteristic of the neurotic:
“He is filled with an incessant concern for his own ego which seems to him in constant peril. Thus we find an obvious, if more or less successfully disguised, egocentricity as a further essential component of the neurotic character. The neurotic is like a man gazing into a small hand mirror which reflects his own features, but excludes the outside world.” (Practical Psychology in Character Development, Roman Catholic books, p. 164).
It is difficult for a normal person to understand such a structured egocentricity. We know that when we become preoccupied with ourselves, we are deliberately selfish, and we can do something about it. For the alcoholic, the egocentricity is a structure in his way of thinking which has become deeply rooted by past experiences: whether it be the example of an alcoholic parent, whether it be some kind of abuse, or lack of affection or positive reinforcement in early childhood years. The reason does not matter. The alcoholic always thinks in terms of himself because he is always dealing with his false and artificial sense of inadequacy and inferiority. Many such persons can be fervent and devout in their spiritual life, but unable to break out of the vicious cycle, flipping back into their vice in an apparently irrational and unexplainable manner.
REMEDIES
What, then, can be done for the alcoholic? A purely spiritual plan of action - Mass and the sacrament, and prayers - usually does not work. This is not because of a lack of free will, although it looks like it to the outsider. It is because of a failure to understand the real nature of the disorder, which is not spiritual but psychological. How many spiritual men, and even pious priests, are afflicted by this disorder, and feel unable to rise above it!
A psychological plan of action is essential. Treatment programs, and alcoholics anonymous have as their goal to put into practice such a plan of action on the natural level, to enable the alcoholic to escape from the irrational compulsion. They do not deny the existence of free will, but to the contrary strive to captivate and direct it by natural means. First of all they will lead a man to acknowledge that he has this disease, that he will have it for life, namely that he will always be a recovering alcoholic. Thus the first major problem of denial is overcome. Then they will lead the alcoholic to escape from his sense of inadequacy, by encouraging him to depend not upon himself, but upon a higher power, which we call God. Regular meetings, emotional support and the companionship of those who suffer in the same way as he does, frequently makes it possible for the alcoholic to rise above the sense of inadequacy and the compulsion to drink. We cannot approve of the naturalism and spirit of religious indifference that characterize Alcoholics Anonymous, yet these natural methods are necessary means, and enable free will to start to take control.
However, such a recovering alcoholic is still left with his character weakness, with his structured egocentricity, on account of which he can always fall back into the same vice. For this there can be only one answer, and it is a supernatural one: it is the heroic love of the Cross, it is the wholeheartedly embracing of the Gospel teaching: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:24, 25). The alcoholic who is willing to deny himself completely, as Matt Talbot did, and to heroically give up all consideration of his own reputation, honor, importance by that very fact neutralizes his sense of inadequacy. His character, now strong, is no longer alcoholic. I know a pious and good priest, a long time alcoholic, who received the will power to overcome his alcoholism only when he consecrated himself totally to the Sacred Heart, that is when he gave himself up totally. However, let nobody be mistaken. Grace builds upon nature, and without the prior overcoming of the natural tendencies to deny the existence of a problem and to be preoccupied by his sense of his own inadequacy, such supernatural generosity is not possible.
Consequentlly, the disease of alcoholism certainly does not, simply speaking, abolish the use of free will. It does, however, constitute a grave obstacle to self control, through the egocentricity that it creates, and it is only by free will, by the deliberate use of a combination of natural and supernatural means, that a man can attain to consistency, wholeness and integrity of character.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.