2009/11/01 by Lance M. Dodes · 1 citation
Medicine · Psychology · #Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes #Gambling Behavior and Treatments #Mental Health Research Topics
paper · doi:10.1080/14753630903230468
openalex publication_date 2009/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Psychodynamic understanding of addiction has advanced greatly in the recent decades. At the same time, there has been a tendency in both popular and academic discussions of addiction to overlook its psychological explanation in favour of a neurobiological view. In this paper I will summarize the understanding of the psychological nature of addiction I have described over the past 20 years, as well as the current state of neurobiological knowledge of addictive behaviour and define where each is clinically applicable. Addictive behaviour can be shown to nearly always be a purely psychological symptom, a type of psychological compulsion. Neurobiological factors can be shown to be operative in impulsive and conditioned behaviours which are also, confusingly, called ‘addictions’. The fact that very different clinical entities share the same name has contributed to the ongoing misunderstanding between psychological and neurobiological views. A blurring of the differences between human psychology and behaviour in lower animals has also contributed to the problem, leading some neurobiological researchers to mistakenly generalize conclusions about human addictive behaviour from animal models.