How religion can play a role in addiction recovery

When she was in her 40s, Jenny Teeters had a serious drinking problem that she hid behind her professional success.

At one point, she managed a high-six-figure tech job, raised two teen girls, finished her MBA and taught Zumba — all while intoxicated.

She got to a place where she could no longer juggle it all. She knew she needed help. What finally made her sobriety stick, she said, was a newfound faith in a higher power.

“In my addiction, I had veered away from faith, because I really thought, ‘who am I to be going into a church, knowing that I’m doing the same damaging thing over and over again?’ I had so many unhealthy attachments and addictions with my drinking,” said Teeters, who now lives in South Carolina. “But when I confessed to a priest about my drinking, he told me I needed to work on a personal relationship with Jesus.”

That conversation planted a seed.

“And it just became this vehicle by which they helped bring me back.”

New research suggests that kind of connection may help others, too. A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry in February found that a person’s spiritual belief or a steady religious practice had a protective effect from addiction.

The analysis, which included 55 studies encompassing more than a half-million people, found that those who had a spiritual belief or religious practice were less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. Those with a connection to a higher power had more success recovering from addiction, too.

No single demographic benefited more from a spiritual connection, but more than half of African Americans in the study reported that their spirituality or religion “made all the difference” in their recovery — a rate two- to threefold more than that of White people.

Faith, or a spiritual connection, also seemed to help women gain the same level of success with the recovery process as men. Earlier research has shown that women typically face more barriers to recovery. Society judges women much more harshly than men for addiction, and women, who are more often caregivers, may find it difficult to make time for themselves or spend money on rehab.

The new study doesn’t explain why faith protects against the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol or smoking. No one religious or spiritual practice appeared to be more protective against addiction, but the risk reduction was higher for people who regularly engaged in a spiritual or religious community, defined as weekly attendance at a religious service.

One possible reason for the protective effect between faith and substance use is that excessive drug and alcohol use would not typically be the norm in a religious community, said Dr. Amy Krentzman, who researches spirituality and alcoholism recovery and did not work on the new study.

A belief in a higher power also provides people with hope and solace — great foils for addiction. Regular attendance in a faith community also provides connection.