by Steve Taylor Ph.D., Guest Waking Times As you are no doubt aware, presently the United States is experiencing an opioid epidemic. There are many reasons for this—one of the most obvious being the reckless over-subscription of opiate-based painkillers by doctors, leading to dependency. But on a psychological level, we have to take into account the strong relationship between addiction and the lack of a sense of purpose. To some extent, addiction is the result of a lack of purpose. It’s partly the consequence of experiencing what the psychologist Viktor Frankl called the ‘existential vacuum’—feeling as though there is no purpose or … Continue reading IS ADDICTION THE RESULT OF A LACK OF A SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE?