Aug 18, 2026 · 60 min
Addiction care must build lives, not just enforce sobriety
What We're Still Getting Wrong About Addiction | Dr. Jonathan Avery
The episode connects stigma, trauma, weak medical training, behavioral addictions, and a contaminated drug supply to the urgent need for more humane care.
- 1Recovery depends on safety, connection, purpose, and practical support—not sobriety treated as an endpoint.
- 2Stigma and inadequate addiction training leave patients underserved while predatory treatment systems exploit vulnerable families.
- 3Behavioral addictions and contaminated drugs demand a coordinated public-health response grounded in urgency and compassion.
Don't miss
Richard Taite’s final overdose-prevention appeal crystallizes the episode’s argument that contaminated drugs require an urgent, coordinated public-health response.
The brief
Jonathan Avery and Richard Taite frame addiction through trauma, mental health, and personal history, arguing that people’s stories can reduce stigma and lead to more complete care.
Their central argument is that sobriety is only a foundation: recovery requires safety, relationships, purpose, practical support, and a future that feels worth protecting.
The conversation widens from substance use to gambling, gaming, pornography, and digital isolation, showing how always-available compulsions can erode resilience and ordinary social skills.
Avery says addiction psychiatry remains undertrained and overstretched, while bureaucracy, insurance barriers, burnout, and predatory providers make effective care harder to reach.
The closing overdose-prevention plea gives the discussion its urgency: contaminated drugs are a public-health emergency, and waiting for people to recover alone is not a strategy.
Featuring
Jonathan AveryMentioned
Thriving with Addiction with Dr. Jonathan AveryBooks & mentions
Listen to the full episode and explore every guest, topic, and moment on PodLume.