Maybe you've watched someone you love do something that makes no sense, something that's clearly hurting them and everyone around them, and you've asked, "Why would anyone choose this?" Or maybe you've asked that question about yourself. It's such a human question. And the answers we come up with, the stories we tell about addiction, end up shaping how we treat people who are struggling... including ourselves. In this episode I sit down with Dr. Maria Cichosz, a writer, critical drug studies scholar and professor of literature and creative writing at Victoria College, University of Toronto. Maria isn't coming from a medical or therapy background. She has a PhD in literary and cultural studies, and she brings her own story: growing up as the child of Polish immigrant parents in a home marked by generational trauma and addiction, and her own relationship with substances over the years. Together we look at how our ideas about addiction have changed over time, from a choice, to a weakness of the will, to a disease of the brain, and what each of those stories gets right and what it misses. It's a big conversation, and Maria doesn't pretend there are easy answers. But there's a lot of hope in it. When you can see that our ideas about addiction haven't always been this way, you can start to imagine they could be different. More compassionate. More human. Key Takeaways Our ideas about addiction have a history. The idea that addiction is a disease of the brain is only a few decades old. Before that it was seen as a weakness of the will or the soul, and before that, a behavior some people chose. Those stories affect how people get treated today.The brain disease model helps, and it's still only part of the picture. It takes blame out of the equation. But a brain scan is "a brain in a vat," as Maria puts it. It doesn't show poverty, trauma, isolation, overprescribing or punitive drug policy.Environment matters, a lot. In Rat Park, rats who had community, play and stimulation mostly chose not to take the drug. Rats aren't people, but we're social creatures too.Compassion and responsibility can live together. Duane and Maria sit with the hard question of how we hold people accountable for the harm they cause while also understanding the forces that brought them there. Neither of them has a clean answer, and that's okay.Stories can build empathy. Fiction lets us step inside someone else's head and see that they think, feel and struggle much like we do. "I wish I could tell you it gets better… We can't always see among the murkiness of where we are in the moment, but there is certainly something on the other side, even if it's a twisting path to get there." — Dr. Maria Cichosz Timestamps" 00:36 Maria introduces herself and how she became "the drug person" in her academic work06:18 Growing up in a home shaped by generational trauma and addiction12:48 Addiction has a history: why the brain disease model isn't the whole story13:54 From Roman law to "a disease of the will": how our ideas about addiction changed24:01 What the brain disease model gets right, and what it can miss30:37 The Rat Park study and the power of environment33:42 The other side: psychedelics, harm reduction and moving past "good vs. bad"38:54 Set and setting41:30 Maria's novel Middlemen45:35 One thing Maria wants you to knowAbout Dr. Maria Cichosz Maria Cichosz is a writer, critical drug studies scholar and professor of literature and creative writing at Victoria College in the University of Toronto, where she also directs the Victoria College Writing Centre. She holds a PhD in Modern Thought & Literature from Stanford University, and her research focuses on post-1945 literature, art and theory, with a particular interest in drug histories and cultures. Her writing has appeared in Critique, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Literary Review of Canada and American Literature. She's the author of the novels Cam & Beau (2020) and Middlemen (NoN Publishing, fall 2026). On Drugs, part of Biblioasis's Field Notes series, is forthcoming. Connect with Maria Website: mariacichosz.comUniversity of Toronto faculty page: vic.utoronto.ca/cichoszAcademia.edu: utoronto.academia.edu/MariaCichoszMiddlemen from NoN Publishing: nonpublishing.com/middlemenToronto launch of Middlemen: Thursday, October 22, 2026, 6:30 PM at Queen Books, 914 Queen Street EastResources Mentioned Middlemen by Maria Cichosz Cam & Beau by Maria Cichosz (2020)Dr. Bruce Alexander's Rat Park studyEve Kosofsky Sedgwick, "Epidemics of the Will"Jacques Derrida, "The Rhetoric of Drugs" Follow and Review: We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: If you live in California and are looking for counseling or therapy please check out Novus Mindful Life Counseling and Recovery Center NovusMindfulLife.com Novus Mindful Life offers therapy for addiction, betrayal trauma, anxiety and depression, in person in Garden Grove, CA, and by telehealth in California, Idaho, Virginia, Florida and Texas. → NovusMindfulLife.com Healing after betrayal? Shame to Resilience is a guided program for both the betrayed partner and the person who caused the harm. → ShameToResilience.comStay close to the work. Get new episodes, tools you can actually use, and a little hope for the hard days in your inbox. → Subscribe at TheAddictedMind.com We want to hear from you. Leave us a message or ask us a question: https://www.speakpipe.com/addictedmind Disclaimer See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
