There's been an appreciation of the fact that people recover in many different ways. Lots of people benefit from 12-step mutual health programs, but some people don't go to them. One statistic is that out of the number of people who have a substance use disorder and are not getting treatment, 95% say they don't want treatment. So we're stuck with being human, but we can do a better job of that.
Carl Erik Fisher is a psychiatrist, bioethicist and recovering alcoholic who has spent years tracing the history of addiction. His new book is The Urge: Our History of Addiction, a sweeping study of the issue and an urgent call for a more expansive, nuanced and compassionate view of one of society's most difficult challenges. In conversation with Carl is physicist, oceanographer and science presenter, Helen Czerski.
We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be about. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com.
At Intelligence Squared we’ve got our own online streaming platform, Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s most important topics as well as exclusive podcast content. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch on-demand, totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices