What “Chasing the Scream” Taught Me About Addiction and Connection
When I picked up Johann Hari’s Chasing the Scream, I expected a book about drugs, law enforcement, and maybe some policy history. What I didn’t expect was a book that would so profoundly reframe how I think about addiction.
The line that stood out to me most is also one of Hari’s most quoted: “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.”
That single sentence shook me; it felt so simple, but its implications are massive. For years, I had thought about addiction primarily through the pharmaceutical or medical model—the way so many of us are trained to. Addiction as a problem of brain chemistry, requiring correction or management; but Hari pushes us to look deeper. He paints vivid portraits of people who, when given safety, belonging, and reasons to live, were able to step out of addiction almost naturally. Not easily, but in ways that made profound sense.
Reading those stories forced me to pause. Honestly, I’ve always felt some apprehension around working with addiction counseling. It can feel intimidating, but Chasing the Scream reminded me that what I already believe in—and practice every day in therapy—is the foundation for recovery: Connection. Validation. Meaningful relationships.
Hari’s examples are powerful. People who were once entrenched in destructive cycles found healing not by being punished, not by being shamed, and not even by white-knuckling abstinence. They found healing by being accepted into communities, by discovering reasons to care again, by realizing that life was worth showing up for.
It made me reflect on how often we treat ourselves the way systems treat those struggling with addiction: as problems to be fixed. What if instead we asked, Where do I feel disconnected? Where do I need to belong?
This book didn’t just give me a new perspective on addiction—it reaffirmed my entire therapy philosophy. My work has always been rooted in connection-based practice, but seeing it articulated in Hari’s work gave me language and courage to keep leaning into it.
Addiction, in this light, isn’t just about substances. It’s about what happens when we can’t connect and when we can’t find meaning.
That’s something all of us can relate to.
