A Philosophical Critique of Co-Existing Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges: Pain Comes First –...

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Simon Bratt

A Philosophical Critique of Co-Existing Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges

Name: A Philosophical Critique of Co-Existing Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges
Price: 237.35 AUD
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ISBN: 9783032131799

Pain Comes First – Drugs Come Later

Simon Bratt

$296.95 $237.35

Hardback

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English

Palgrave Macmillan
09 January 2026

Phenomenology & Existentialism; Ethics & moral philosophy; Social & political philosophy; Psychology; Philosophy of science

This book is a philosophical inquiry into psychological and emotional pain—specifically, the pain experienced by those who live with mental distress and use substances to cope. It challenges how society misreads this pain, reducing it to diagnoses, deviance, or dysfunction. Drawing on critical realism, phenomenology, and lived experience, the book argues that such pain is not a symptom to be silenced, but a form of knowledge an intelligent, if desperate, response to unliveable conditions. Addiction and mental distress are not separate problems, but co-emergent strategies for survival. Through historical critique, philosophical analysis, and empirical data, the book dismantles the concept of “dual diagnosis” and offers an alternative: the Layered Care Model (LCM). Rooted in justice and human dignity, the LCM reimagines care for people who use substances not despite their pain, but because of it. At its heart, the book asks: what if psychological pain comes first and everything else is a response to it?

By: Simon Bratt
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9783032131799
ISBN 10: 3032131790
Pages: 236
Publication Date: 09 January 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Pain Comes First.- 2. Unravelling the False Stories, We Tell Ourselves.

Simon Bratt, PhD, is a senior mental health social worker, researcher, and lecturer. His work explores co-existing mental health and substance use through the lens of justice, dignity, and philosophical care, challenging how systems respond to human suffering.