Heroin addiction: the needle as transitional object.
The etiology of heroin addiction is examined from the perspective of object relations, one psychoanalytic model among many that can offer fruitful understanding. Material is drawn from the literature and from a case example. The major specific focus is on the needle as a transitional object in patients who have experienced early childhood deprivation and separation trauma.
Miller
Julie
J
Columbia University, USA.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009339:Needles; D009769:Object Attachment; D010553:Personality Development; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory