The Pleasure Principle in Addiction

Abstract

Both lay people and addiction theorists often explain drug abuse and addiction in terms of the pleasure the addict derives from a drug. This “pleasure principle” model does not succeed in explaining either the initiation or continuation of drug abuse or other compulsive, self-destructive behavior. Examinations of the rewards addicts report from addiction to drugs and to other involvements point instead toward a desire to modify experience by making it less burdensome or painful. Implications for how addicts become able eventually to dismiss addictive rewards are discussed.