Addiction and Destructiveness

Drug addiction has been studied in contemporary psychoanalytic literature, yet its associated self-destructiveness has received less attention. Most of the literature has focused on the compensatory role played by substance abuse with regard to self-regulation and ego functions. A review of contributions by authors who have discussed the destructive aspect is included in this article. This is followed by clinical observations of this aspect emphasizing the intra-psychic function played by self-destructiveness for individuals who abuse substances despite their deleterious consequences. The authors illustrate the importance of taking this function into account through a clinical vignette. Finally, the discussion of the case leads to a further contribution to this subject by linking it to the literature on sibling relations.