What’s so fascinating about addiction realities? Petteri Koivula’s doctoral dissertation work enquires into how addiction is performed as an illness of the brain in scientific and media practices. He explains why this can have meaningful implications for people with addiction.
With rapid advances in neurotechnology, such as neuroimaging, the brain has become the most prominent site for exploring addictive behaviours. Meanwhile, people’s capability to stay healthy and well-functioning is increasingly seen to be intimately connected to their capability to exercise personal agency. While finishing his master’s studies, Koivula got interested in this strange contradiction. How does the view of addiction as a brain disease affect addiction policies and treatment, and influence how people with addiction are viewed? A possibility to study this matter came about in 2018 within the CEACG project for the ethical implementation of addiction neuroscience (the A-BRAIN).