Great Reads: The Urge

In my Comp 2 classes, I have started letting my students select a reader and one of my classes picked a great one. (This originally evolved from an issue/worry with Florida’s Governor Ron Desantis’s new restrictions on classroom topics, but in the end, it ended up being great allowing students to have choices.)

The Urge: Our History of Addiction, by Carl Erik Fisher is a worthy read.

Here are a few perks that make this book worth your time (especially for anyone interested in Psychology, CBT and therapeutic fields, and/or medicine):

Great organization and broad overview

The 11 chapters each take a look at one piece of the puzzle as humanity has tried to make sense of the complexities of our urges, from antiquity on through the therapists and treatment centers of today.

This book also moves back and forth between historical stories and Fisher’s own story of struggle.

Fisher is honest and shares his OWN credible tale

I am not always a fan of a memoir story – there are just so many, but Fisher takes the concept of a memoir/addiction story and marries it with a historical focus. It is not too much of either and both parts, the historical and the personal, are stronger for the inclusion of the other.

To explain, each chapter often starts with history, or a historical situation, usually focusing on one historical figure’s story, and then after a few pages, it switches gears to Fisher’s tale. Since high school, he’d been a drinker, and that seemed to accelerate as he got further into college and then into his medical residency. He doesn’t soften his story but instead includes what some would consider to be highly embarrassing moments. He does this to earn credibility – he’s been through his own experience of addiction, denial, failure, acceptance, and recovery.

I do wonder a bit at what choices were made about how to intersperse his story with historical accounts. At least once or twice, shifting gears from the terrors of 18th-century medicine to a Fisher moment and then back seemed a bit abrupt. Then again, I listened to most of this via audiobook, so it might have been more clear in print. Still, perhaps clearer subheadings would have helped with the transitions and with later reference. (At least once, when trying to find a section of his story, or the section about the woman who helped champion Alcoholics Anonymous, I simply could not remember and could not quickly find what I was seeking).

A Global Lens with which to View Addiction and Urges

One of my favorite takeaways from this book arrives in the increased awareness I have at the complexity of addiction and the variety of addiction stories. Chapters 10, 11, and the Conclusion were profound and helped me shift some of my own shame thinking to a place that is more compassionate and nuanced (toward myself and others).

Addiction is biological, and mental, and social. It is a kind of illness and it is a kind of coping strategy. It is far more than just Aunt Rhonda’s continual request for one more glass of wine or a gamer’s just a few more minutes of playing.

In fact, most interestingly, I loved the data that revealed most people can get out of addictive states without any sort of help at all (70% I think?). All readers should pay attention to the Chapter 10 or 11 data on the heroin-addicted veterans retuning from Vietnam in the 1970s. Most stopped heroin use cold-turkey and without help. With help, either social, therapeutic, or through medicines and addiction-suppressing drugs (yes, that’s real – Methadone is one), many people can find more control in their lives.

I’ll read this book again sometime, especially the last few chapters that discussed the varieties of AA programs and the new paradigm with which to view addiction. Some of the earlier chapters, did get a bit into the weeds, though they offered so much perspective on how the Temperance movement led to Prohibition (and why that failed), or how the “War on Drugs” evolved in the late 70s and 80s (and why THAT failed too).

This is just an interesting book (and enjoyable to listen via audiobook) with a highly compassionate, honest, and effective writer. Highly recommended (8.5-9/10).