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Indeed, not really a brain disorder: Implications for reductionist accounts of addiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Matt Field ,
Nick Heather  and
Reinout W. Wiers
Matt Field
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 2LT, United Kingdommatt.field@sheffield.ac.ukhttps://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academic/professor_matt_field
Nick Heather
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 1LU, United Kingdomnick.heather@unn.ac.ukhttps://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/h/nick-heather/
Reinout W. Wiers
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, PB 15916, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.wiers@uva.nlhttp://www.uva.nl/profiel/w/i/r.w.h.j.wiers/r.w.h.j.wiers.html
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Abstract

Borsboom et al.’s formulation provides an opportunity for a fundamental rethink about the “brain disease model” of addiction that dominates research, treatment, policy, and lay understanding of addiction. We also demonstrate how the American opioid crisis provides a contemporary example of how “brain disease” is not moderated by the environmental context but is instead crucially dependent upon it.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e9
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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