St. John Cassian Mission - San Antonio, TX, and Nativity of the Mother of God Mission - Austin, TX, were very happy to receive the visit of Fr. Athanasie Ulea from January 26th to February 4th, 2024. Given his medical training as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Father Athanasie presented and discussed two important current topics: addiction and depression.
Our passions (addictions) come in many forms, and they often bring depression into our lives. Therefore, to cure them, we need to know and understand where they start, how they manifest, and how they are treated so that we can begin to cure them.
In San Antonio, on Saturday, January 27th, after Vespers, Father Valentin Ilieș began with a short introduction about Father Athanasie and welcomed him to American soil. The conference on addictions succeeded in opening everyone's eyes to understand them better and thus combat them. The next day after Divine Liturgy, the conference on depression followed, which drew much interest from those present, given the fact that almost one in three people on the American continent suffer from depression at some point in their lives.
On Tuesday, January 30, the Feast of the Three Hierarchs, we prayed together at the Greek Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Kendalia, TX, the foundation of Father Ephrem the Philotheite. On Thursday, February 1st, we visited another of Father Efrem's foundations, the "Saint Paraskevi" Monastery of Nuns in Washington, TX, where we participated in the Service of Prayer for the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord.
In Austin on Saturday, February 3th, after welcoming remarks by Fr. Gabriel Iies, Fr. Athanasie began a five-hour workshop on addictions. Some of the main ideas were the following: in addition to genetic or environmental factors, addictions can stem from problematic social relationships, loneliness, because of illness or as an attempt to deal with depression, loss, grief, etc. Psychologically, an inner tension caused by a soul void, conflicts or disappointments can lead to the use of addictive substances or behaviors through narcissistic withdrawal into a freely controlled and omnipotent fantasy world. This produces relaxation and euphoria, but leads to cerebral and social disturbances, which in turn lead to a return of the initial exacerbated tension that further sustains the vicious cycle of addiction. That is why correcting social relationships is a key to curing addiction. Of particular importance in this regard is the relationship with the confessor, through which we rethink our relationships to relate in the right love for self and neighbor. Other indispensable elements in healing are prayer and other ascetic methods in the church such as metanias and fasting, as well as replacing unhealthy habits with other elements such as sports, working with one's hands, hobbies, etc. The hardest part, however, is the awareness that we are gripped by a certain addiction, and the willingness and flexibility in thinking to accept to cure it. The day ended in prayer, with a great Vespers and other constructive discussions.
The day after the Divine Liturgy, the conference on depression took place. As one of the most prevalent illnesses today, depression needs our attention. As with addictions, in addition to genetic or physiological factors, depression can be triggered by problematic relationships, loneliness, various illnesses or medications, old age, significant losses in life, etc. Psychologically, deprivation in early childhood causes an oral deficit, when the child lacks basic things, or a narcissistic deficit, when the child is not valued as much. This is how 'existential underachievement' develops, when the person feels that he has too little attention, too little value, becomes a nobody or has the impression that he can do nothing. This leads either to increased emotional needs, with the adult becoming an "emotional beggar", with an increased need for attention, closeness, understanding, or to the development of a problematic self-esteem, when the adult expresses an increased self-esteem on the outside, directly proportional, however, to his inner smallness, a self-esteem compensated by seeking recognition through performance, exaggerated ethical and moral standards or self-sacrifice. Such mechanisms ultimately lead to burnout and depression. This can manifest itself very differently, ranging from typical cases of sadness with mental and motor withdrawal and sluggishness, to states of dissatisfaction, restlessness, agitation.
After these intense days, we all realized how significant it is to prevent depression and replace addictions with good relationships with the people in our lives. We give glory to God for the memorable experiences and hope that Father Athanasie will return to our midst to help us in our spiritual ascent.
Noted,
Pr. Gabriel Ilieș