Chapter 08, Introduction to Section II

Abstract

Section II of the book is devoted to criticisms that have been made of the BDMA.

The 15 chapters in this section, some reprinted from previous literature but most original works, offer a collection of arguments that challenge the BDMA on four basic grounds:
(i) the BDMA has not produced the benefits for the treatment, prevention and policy on addiction that were promised;
(ii) the factual assumptions made by the proponents of the BDMA on the nature of addiction cannot be supported;
(iii) the BDMA encourages, if not decrees, a misplaced emphasis on only one of several explanatory dimensions that capture the phenomenon; and
(iv) the BDMA exerts a negative influence on our understanding of addiction.

Other criticisms of the BDMA by authors who have not contributed chapters to the book are briefly described.

Authors

Sally Satel - ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9876-8875

Nick Heather - ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7382-863X

Antony C. Moss - ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9045-2542

Matt Field - ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7790-5559

Book

Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction is available from: