ABSTRACT
For all of his failings, Freud had an uncanny ability to identify the essence of a psychological problem. Addiction therefore cannot be an evolutionarily proper use of the brain mechanisms in question, but it is psychologically compelling nonetheless. The object of the addiction would then be not just the stimulant substance itself—as incentive salience theory suggests—but, rather, the possibility (or expectation, or even hope) of social, sexual, and other biologically useful rewards that the substance artificially evokes. This alternative explanation of the link between reduced D2 receptivity and addiction has important clinical implications, so we believe it deserves careful consideration in future research. Addiction, like masturbation, is a substitute and replacement not only for general mastery of the object world, but specifically for the attainment of a secure love-object. The social attachment substitutive aspects of addiction probably go a long way to explaining why 12-step programmes are among the most effective ways to break addictive cycles.
