The dangers of otherness, the search for others: paradoxical figures of addiction

Addictive disorders have a very complex relationship with the question of the group. Although it remains difficult to establish a homogeneous theory of addiction, the identification of a specific psychic economy that regulates the relationship with oneself and with others helps shed light on addiction. Addictive behaviors are often associated with difficulties concerning intersubjectivity. Whether by underlining the violence inherent in the reconfiguration of relationships with internal objects during adolescence, or as a way of dealing with the question of separation and loss, addiction appears as a solution to the dangers of otherness. However, the success of self-help groups in managing addiction attests to the importance of others in the recovery process of addiction. We understand this as an illustration of a specific relationship to the group, leaving unresolved the question of the effects of psychic tension and transformation contained in the mutual relationships between the group and the subject of the group.