ABSTRACT
Addiction occurs only when opiates are used to alleviate withdrawal distress, after this distress has been properly understood or interpreted, that is to say, after it has been represented to the individual in terms of the linguistic symbols and cultural patterns which have grown up around the opiate habit. The developing concepts of self and of causality and the growing appreciation of and the ability to use language are all involved in the normal development of a child; they are also implicated in the process of addiction. The drugs designated as addicting, such as barbiturates, opiates, and alcohol, share the characteristic feature that all produce physical dependence and withdrawal distress. The contention that addiction requires a relatively normal cognitive ability sufficient to understand withdrawal symptoms or to grasp a proffered explanation of them implies that full-fledged psychoties with seriously disturbed cognitive processes should be immune to addiction.
