recommended reading:
addiction to perfection ~ marion woodman
witness to the fire: creativity and the veil of addiction ~ linda leonard
the war of the gods in addiction – schoen
in the realm of hungry ghosts – gabor maté
addiction, feminine, & archetypal psychology – marion woodman (audiobook)
Like patterns in a tapestry, recurring themes emerge in my interviews with addicts: the drug as emotional anesthetic; as an antidote to a frightful feeling of emptiness; as a tonic against fatigue, boredom, alienation, and a sense of personal inadequacy; as stress reliever and social lubricant.
~ Gabor Mate
Without frustration there can be no satisfaction. Frustration that is unrecognized, unrepresented, cannot be met or even acknowledged; addiction is always an addiction to frustration (addiction is unformulated frustration, frustration too simply met). (14) Adam Phillips, Missing Out
“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.” (Jung, MDR, p. 329)