ABSTRACT
Addiction has been widely misunderstood and inappropriately treated for virtually all of human history, because of a failure to appreciate its psychological nature. This chapter reviews psychoanalytic theories of the psychological nature of addiction, and its implications for treatment. Awareness of the role of displacement in creating addictive behaviors assists both patients and therapists in tracking changing symptoms during treatment. A common difficulty encountered in treating people with addictive behavior is their minimization, or complete denial, of the severity of their symptom. It is important to appreciate that people with addictions are no less able to view reality than anyone else. A common difficulty encountered in treating people with addictive behavior is their minimization, or complete denial, of the severity of their symptom. From a psychological standpoint, diagnosis usually depends on the intrapsychic factors behind behavior rather than the behavior itself.
