Why consult a psychoanalyst for addiction?

Addictive behavior can involve gambling, screens, shopping, sexuality, work, or other repetitive behaviors.
A dependency cannot be reduced to a matter of willpower. The behavior may serve a particular function: calming tension, seeking excitement, avoiding an emotion, or coping with a suffering that is difficult to put into words.
The way it developed and the circumstances in which it appears can also be explored.

A person may be fully aware of the consequences of their behavior while continuing to repeat it.
This contradiction can be particularly guilt-inducing.
The behavior may provide immediate relief that perpetuates the repetition. Psychoanalysis seeks to understand this contradiction and what the behavior supports, avoids, or enables.
Knowing that a behavior is dangerous or destructive does not necessarily make it possible to stop.
An addiction can provide relief, calm tension, distance an emotion, or momentarily fill a sense of emptiness.
Understanding this function can be an important step toward gradually breaking free from the cycle of repetition.

Addictive behavior can temporarily alter an inner state: soothing anxiety, calming tension, avoiding certain thoughts, or seeking a particular sensation.
The question might be: what happens before the behavior? What does one feel? What is one trying to avoid or recover?
These elements can help explore the role of addiction in one's current life and its possible links with personal history.

A relapse does not necessarily mean that all the work done is lost.
It may indicate that a difficulty remains, that a particular situation has reactivated the need to use, or that a newly found balance remains fragile.
Looking back at what happened before the relapse helps identify what was difficult and what could be worked on.

An addiction may require medical or specialized care, particularly depending on the substance or behavior involved.
Psychoanalytic work can, however, contribute to understanding the function that addiction occupies in one's psychic life and the difficulties it momentarily soothes.
The aim is therefore not to consider talking therapy as a unique solution, but as an opportunity to work on what lies behind the addictive repetition.

Screens can take up a significant place in daily life: repeatedly checking one's phone, social media, games, videos, or difficulty stopping an activity despite the desire to do something else.
The question is not necessarily to consider every heavy use as an addiction. It may be to understand what happens when one turns to the screen: boredom, loneliness, tension, need for stimulation, avoidance of a thought, or search for relief.
Observing the moments when use becomes difficult to control can help identify the place this behavior occupies in one's life and what it may support or avoid.

Psychoanalytic work explores the circumstances in which the behavior appears, the emotions that accompany it, and what it represents for the individual.
Understanding alone, however, is not always enough to interrupt an addiction. Some dependencies require medical or specialized support.

I offer psychoanalytic consultations in Lyon and via teleconsultation, as a complement to specialized care when necessary.