34. "Junkie priest" viewed drug addiction as a spiritual illness

By Tom O'Connell

As I reflect on 20 years of writing about addiction and attending conferences where the experts presented their views, there are certain people who stand out in my mind. And one of them is the "junkie priest," Father Dan Egan. When I interviewed him for a story that appeared later in Catholic Digest, I was impressed by his vast knowledge about drug addiction and his intimate experiences with addicts.

He wasn't an addict himself, yet he earned the title "junkie priest" because of his work in the streets of New York City at a time in the 1950s when very little was being done about addiction treatment. To learn more about addiction he entered the lion's den, and exposed life and limb with little thought to self-preservation. "I lost friends, threatened my health, jeopardized my reputation, and came perilously close to losing my priesthood," he told me as casually as we might describe a trip to the neighborhood supermarket.

The harsh reality of women's drug addiction led him into a crusade to interrupt the vicious circle that leads from the need for money to buy drugs, to involvement in crime and prostitution, to prison, and back to the streets for more drugs and crime.

His battle to get New York City officials to face up to the realities of the drug scene made him a controversial figure, and eventually he had to be transferred out of the city. But he continued his work with drug rehabilitation at Graymoor's mountain monastery on the Hudson in Garrison, New York, where he founded New Hope Manor, a live-in rehabilitation program for young female adicts. It has helped many young women move from lives of shocking brutality and vice into new wholeness of body and spirit.

The young woman who took me on a tour of New Hope Manor explained that she and the other girls had a new focal point for their feelings now, other than drugs. The new focal point was spiritual. "We're learning about basic self-respect, grooming, developing interests and hobbies, and dealing with our strengths and weaknesses," she said.

Why do young people get hooked on drugs? Father Dan Egan told me, "It's an absolute law in our field that the degree of drug addiction depends on how happy or unhappy the person is at the time of the first high."

What does "getting high" mean? The 'junkie priest" said alcohol and marijuana were "feeling-altering chemicals" used by teens because of their desire to feel good. "If they're suffering from loneliness, rejection, or hurt, they want the good feeling of being high. Feelings aren't facts, but most children think they are. They are what they feel! If they feel unloved, being high on drugs is preferable to the pain of reality." But when they come down from being high, young people experience alienation, guilt, loneliness and fear that few can understand unless they have been in the depressing grip of drug addiction.

With a touch of anger in his voice, this priest who learned about drug addiction from working in the trenches with it, discussed the lack of parental affection as a major source of children's problems. "If people want to prevent their children from depending on drugs, they're going to have to give their kid's time, hug them, confirm them, want them around. Then if they happen to get high by accident or choice, they're not going to want to get back to a passing good feeling, because they already possess a good feeling rooted in their parents' love. But there are too many unloved, unhugged kids."

Another root cause of drug addiction described by Father Dan Egan was an absence of positive values. "When it comes to values today, a shocking number of children don't understand that they have a soul. They make their decisions based on feelings, without regard for consequences, and the consequences are often very tragic."

Reflecting on his 30 years in the field of drug abuse, he said, "I can't recall any addict whose life was motivated by positive values....What I value determines the kind of person I am and the kind of life I live."

When he took his crusade into schools, he provided this description of a child at high risk for drug abuse: 1) The child has reduced too much of life to a matter of feelings. 2) The child does not look upon life as his most precious possession. 3) The child has a low tolerance for suffering. 4) The child is caught up in a search for pleasure. 5) The child has no long-range goals. 6) The child is extra sensitive. 7) The child has a low self-image. 8) The child is frustrated or alienated. 9) The child is undisciplined. 10) The child has no deep, positive relationships. 11) The child is spiritually sick.

When I asked him what the basic problem was, he said, "It's  a spiritual illness. It's the consequence of the search for pleasure an as an end in itself, the pursuit of instant gratification. The availability of drugs is not the cause. The basic problem is that deep down inside there is something missing in the lives of these teenagers who turn to drugs, and what's missing is the spiritual dimension."

Also, he cited the failure to think as one of the teens' basic problems. "They're so in touch with their feelings that they have to be jolted into thinking about reality." Father Dan Egan's wisdom has stood the test of time. And what he said about young addicts holds true for older addicts too. It's just a matter of degree, and time.

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