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Benno Herzog
Mechel O'Reilly & Jessica Lester (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health. Houndmills: Palgrave: 101-116
Publication year: 2016

Abstract

Drugs are substances, that is, material realities with specific, describable chemical characteristics. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the scientific literature about drugs is dominated by bio-medical viewpoints. This scientific literature is based upon ‘hard facts’, chemical or neuronal reactions independent of the researcher’s viewpoint, and – of course – not the result of discourses. However, discourse and discourse analysis encompass more than text and talking. Discourse analysis can be used to better understand even apparently ‘objective’ realities.