Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A profound, humane, and revolutionary new framework for understanding and addressing addiction.
Addiction has been called a moral failing, a social disease, a spiritual crisis, a brain problem, and a behavioral disorder. It has also been called a class issue, a supply problem, a disease of learning, a memory disorder, and a result of trauma. And there are some who say that addiction is neither disease, problem, nor failing, but a transgressive expression of freedom, a sub-culture, a therapeutic relationship. Even the term 'addiction' is open to question. There are few human phenomena so elusive and intractable; after decades of neuroscientific research, we aren't much closer to understanding addiction, nor to addressing it effectively.
This profusion of interpretations, meanings, and models reflects a hidden truth about addiction-- that it is profusely generative of meaning itself. In this bold reimagining, pioneering psychiatrist Elias Dakwar examines addiction as a sustained creative act--and, specifically, as a process of personal world-building, complete with its own rituals, systems of meaning, modes of suffering, and sources of support. Addiction, therefore, is something we all do. But there is a crucial difference. For those of us suffering from an explicit addiction, this created 'world' keeps us in clear captivity, worsening the suffering and confusion we hoped it would console. And we remain stuck because we have trouble imagining it differently.
Drawing on vivid stories of his own patients, path-breaking research, and decades of clinical experience, Dakwar explores this captivity at the heart of our addictions, and shows how we might move beyond its bounds to reclaim our freedom. He also relates addiction to our collective self-inflicted crises, from environmental destruction to militarism to social injustice. With fluid, often startling, and beautiful prose, The Captive Imagination offers a novel path for better understanding and overcoming addiction, as well as human suffering more generally.