What is Addiction?

Addiction is a compulsive cycle of using a substance or behaviour to avoid pain or feel better, followed by shame, guilt and the resolve never to repeat it. The name of the game is avoiding to feel.

The myth of Sisyphus

“Addiction is a bit like the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus pushes the boulder to the top of the hill, and in the morning he starts again. Addiction is the same — every morning pushing, pushing, trying to avoid the pain. In the morning, he is again at the bottom.” — Philippe Jacquet

Acting in, acting out

Acting out is using — the substance, the behaviour, the relief. Acting in is the aftermath — shame, guilt, the fierce resolve to never do it again. But that resolve is itself unbearable. And the only known relief is acting out again.

The three phases

• Phase 1 — Fun: The substance works. These people don’t appear in a consulting room.
• Phase 2 — Fun and trouble: Consequences are beginning, but the substance still delivers.
• Phase 3 — Trouble: The fun is gone. If someone sits across from you, they are in phase two or three.

Why people actually stop

“I didn’t stop drugs because drugs were not good. I loved drugs. I stopped drugs because I didn’t like who I became.” — Philippe Jacquet

Book a consultation with Philippe Jacquet — psychotherapist and Jungian analyst, London.