From the Paradosis list:
A very interesting piece of research has been reported by portal-credo.ru http://portal-credo.ru/site/print.php?act=news&id=49892 the degree of alcoholism is much higher among the clergy in Russia than in any other group. Moreover, the prognosis of a cure after treatment is much lower. The reason for the latter fact, according to the Moscow psychiatric institute quoted in the article, is the fact that "the patient-priest, as a rule, is undisciplined, manifests heightened self-opinion [pride], adopts the tone of an instructor and constantly tries to interfere in the treatment process".
I should like to suggest another possible cause of the drunkenness in patriarchal priests which was once suggested to me by a Catacomb Church monk: their guilty conscience, which they try to drown in drink...
This research must be understood in the context of the very high levels of drunkenness in Russia as a whole. It demonstrates that the so-called "regeneration" that is supposedly taking place in Russia is being led by those most in need of regeneration themselves.
Vladimir Moss