El abuso de sustancias como búsqueda de un espacio transicional

Abstract

With the growing number of people becoming addicted to any kind of substances it is important to try to comprehend the socio-cultural and psychic aspects that lead a person to consume one or many substances. This text will comment only on the second aspect. To explain the origins of drug addiction it proposes a model based on the theory of Donald W. Winnicott on the transitional objects and phenomena which allow children to access a space of comfort and tranquility that later in their life will allow them to relate with other objects, increase their interests and finally develop creativity and have a meaningful life. In this text the drug is seen as a “pseudo-transitional object” that enables people with borderline organizations to access a certain range of interests and relationships with other objects allowing them to operate as if they had a neurotic structure but being restricted to the consumption of the substance. Thus according to this model the origins of drug addiction can be traced back to the earliest states of life and to a failure in the parental care.