The present paper suggests the existence of two axes of human development: the axis of dependence, associated with human connectedness and the axis of addiction, associated with using inanimate objects to fulfill one’s needs. A crucial role of the analyst who treats people with addictions is to promote movement towards the axis of dependence.

Jose Alberto Zusman, M.D, is Chair of the IPA Subcommittee on Addiction; Post- Doctor on Addiction mentored by Edward Khantzian (Harvard); Full Member and Professor at the Psychoanalitic Society of Rio de Janeiro (SPRJ); PhD on Psychoanalysis mentored by Eustachio Portella Nunus (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); Professor and Supervisor of Psychoanalysis at the Psychiatric Residency programme at the Institute of Psychiatry (UFRJ).

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