Is "Addiction" a helpful concept? An existential view

This paper was originally published in “Psychotherapy in Australia” volume 7, number 2 in February 2001 and appears here by kind permission of the publishers.Ideas about addiction have evolved, and today behaviours such as excessive gambling and sex are called addictions. Medication and psychotherapy are offered, but many people avoid treatment. The dominant “bio-psycho-social model”, despite being holistic, does not address freedom, motivation or spirituality, and some common terms and ways of working offend or alienate drug-takers, indirectly perpetuating their problems. Here CHRISTOPHER WURM argues for a reconsideration of the concept of “addiction”.Christopher Wur