ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on addictive states of mind. It looks at the effects of digital technology such as pornography, or girls’ risky use of social media. We examine how the modern world poses new challenges not present a few decades ago. It describes how those who are addicted, whether to substances, gambling, pornography or other technology, in effect have bodies taken over by forces that seem to control them, while self-reflective and self-regulatory capacities get tuned down. Many turn to their addiction of choice at times of stress or upset, as a defence against difficult emotions and a short cut, to not feeling feelings. Psychoanalytic theory is used here alongside ideas from mindfulness, neurobiology and attachment theory.
