The lack of love: from narcissistic vulnerability to addiction

Considering addictive phenomena through the issue of narcissism can be a relevant approach. This concept is invaluable for understanding the psychic functioning of addicted persons and their metamorphosis, as it allows consideration of the subject’s world and its relations with objects. Often, the lack of love experienced is expressed through the discourse of these patients. Without drying up the mystery this complaint contains, we propose to comprehend alcohol addiction as a response to narcissistic vulnerability. Thanks to psychoanalytic psychotherapy, this vulnerability could be understood and transformed in particular thanks to the rhythm of institutionally-regulated sessions. We rely on the clinical example of Daniel, an alcohol addict. A temporal framework would organise its consumption, binding the withdrawal syndrome to the aldolisations; this articulation, understood as a “self-calming process”, would be “traumatolytic”. It is through this hypothesis of meaning that we understand the complaint of this patient, addressed to the mother.