Is smoking an addiction? Psychoanalytic understanding of smokers
Type de matériel :
TexteLangue : français Détails de publication : 2025.
Ressources en ligne : Abrégé : Smoking is a paradoxical habit. First cause of preventable mortality, this behavior is little studied from a psychodynamic point of view. The DSM-5 classifies it as a substance use disorder, identified on observable criteria. Tobacco cessation specialists often focuses on nicotine addiction. Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, struggles to consider it as an addiction. Briefly cited in books dealing with addictions, smoking is relegated out of this field. Only Lesourne dedicated a whole book on this matter. For her, smoking is a symbolic behavior: initiation signals passage to adulthood and continuation expresses regression to a pregenital fixation point. She claims that addiction, when it is present, occurs following the desymbolization of behavior, due to the automatisation of the movement, with big smokers only. Studying two smokers’ cases, we will illustrate that smoking refers to heterogeneous psychic operations. We will highlight the psychological issues underlying this conduct, independently from nicotine dependence.
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Smoking is a paradoxical habit. First cause of preventable mortality, this behavior is little studied from a psychodynamic point of view. The DSM-5 classifies it as a substance use disorder, identified on observable criteria. Tobacco cessation specialists often focuses on nicotine addiction. Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, struggles to consider it as an addiction. Briefly cited in books dealing with addictions, smoking is relegated out of this field. Only Lesourne dedicated a whole book on this matter. For her, smoking is a symbolic behavior: initiation signals passage to adulthood and continuation expresses regression to a pregenital fixation point. She claims that addiction, when it is present, occurs following the desymbolization of behavior, due to the automatisation of the movement, with big smokers only. Studying two smokers’ cases, we will illustrate that smoking refers to heterogeneous psychic operations. We will highlight the psychological issues underlying this conduct, independently from nicotine dependence.




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