Nature, Culture, and Abnormal Appetites

Dr Fish expands the current notion of addiction through an approach that is inclusive of the social, cultural, historical, as well as ecopsychological perspective. With this in mind, the overwhelming prevalence of addiction in the West is, she tells us, an indication that the addict is our cultural canary-in-the-coal-mine warning us that something is undoubtedly amiss in Western society. The author therefore challenges the current notion of addiction as an individual biological or psychological disease and concludes that it has become an inherent cultural condition of Western society. Dr. Fish explains that this development is the product of a course of events in Western history that includes the Scientific Revolution, the Protestant Reformation, the rise of Capitalism, and most especially the Industrial Revolution. During this process an entirely new way of living arose, that separated people from the natural world, from each other and from a healthy relationship with intoxication and desire.