Out of our heads: Addiction and psychiatric externalism

In addiction, apparently causally significant phenomena occur at a huge number of levels; addiction is affected by biomedical, neurological, pharmacological, clinical, social, and politico-legal factors, among many others. such complex, multifaceted field inquiry, it seems very unlikely that all the layers explanation will prove amenable to any simple or straightforward, reductive analysis; if we are unify different sciences while respecting their causal autonomy, then, what likely need an integrative framework. this paper, propose theory “Externalist” “4E” – for extended, embodied, embedded, enactive cognition, which focuses on empirical conceptual centrality wider extra-neural environment cognitive mental processes, as candidate We begin in Section 2 outlining how perspective might apply psychiatry more generally, before turning some ways can illuminate particular: 3 points way dissolving classic dichotomy between “choice model” “disease literature; 4 shows 4E concepts clarify interplay addict’s brain her environment; 5 considers these insights help explain success recovery strategies, may inform development new ones.