Drug addiction and borderline functioning: theoretical-clinical articulation

Abstract

Drug addiction is characterized by resorting to a substance as the only means capable of bringing relief to states of distress. There is no consensus regarding grouping chemically dependent patients into a specifically addictive structure, but in cases where drugs assume the status of the only possible path to relieving internal suffering, the psychic dynamics approach those exhibited in borderline personality functioning. From this, a theoretical-clinical reflection was constructed, using a winnicottian approach, drawing a parallel between the etiology and the consequent psychic dynamics of drug-addicted patients and those classified as borderline personality functioning.