Marshall Poe
Marshall Poe
Joseph E. Davis, "Chemically Imbalanced: Everyday Suffering, Medication, and Our Troubled Quest for Self-Mastery" (U Chicago Press, 2020)
Joseph E. Davis, "Chemically Imbalanced: Everyday Suffering, Medication, and Our Troubled Quest for Self-Mastery" (U Chicago Press, 2020)
Joseph E. Davis, "Chemically Imbalanced: Everyday Suffering, Medication, and Our Troubled Quest for Self-Mastery" (U Chicago Press, 2020)
Friday 18th September 2020
Joseph E. Davis discusses 'Chemically Imbalanced' and the shift from psychological to biological treatments for everyday suffering on 'New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery'.
59 minutes
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Author:
Marshall Poe
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Understanding Addiction & Recovery
Navigating Alcohol Dependency
Navigating Intimate Relationships
Family Recovery from Addiction
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Get the buttons here!Chemically Imbalanced: Rethinking How We Address Everyday Suffering
Attention to the inner life is actually quite critical, and one of the effects of the biological term is to turn away from the questions of one's inner life, how the very sources of our agency are tied up with our personal and social history, how we frame what matters to us and so on.
What if the way we handle everyday suffering is fundamentally flawed? In this episode of 'New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery', host Marshall Poe chats with Joseph E. Davis about his eye-opening book, 'Chemically Imbalanced: Everyday Suffering, Medication, and Our Troubled Quest for Self-Mastery'. Davis takes us on a journey through the shift from addressing psychological pain with introspection and therapy to today's trend of popping pills to 'fix' our brains.
He argues that this shift has profound implications on how we understand ourselves and our struggles. Through interviews with people facing common life challenges—like underperformance at work, grief, or general dissatisfaction—Davis reveals how society increasingly views these issues as brain imbalances needing chemical solutions. This episode dives into the role of drug advertising in shaping our perceptions and the historical context behind the 'chemical imbalance' theory.
Davis also touches on how this biological focus marginalizes social factors in psychiatric treatment and calls for a more holistic approach to mental health. If you've ever questioned the quick-fix mentality of modern medicine or wondered about the deeper impacts of medication on our sense of self, this conversation is a must-listen.