The Psychic Structure of the Substance Use Disorder

"The progress in medical science that has been achieved at unprecedented speed in recent years has added much to our knowledge, whether the viewpoint taken is neurobiological, physio-pathological or clinical. This has brought urgency to the task of investigating the changes to be made in updating our perspectives on how best to classify the whole area of mental diseases.
The series of classifications provided in successive editions of DSM has, over the years, evolved in its way of naming dependence on toxic substances, which is referred to in this volume by using the technical terms 'Substance Use Disorder' (SUD) and, partly to indicate the severity of the condition, 'addiction'. In DSM, this severe condition had, for many years, been considered as no more than a single symptom of a personality disorder, until a radically different status was assigned to it - that of playing the role of an independent psychiatric disease.
Over time, the precondition for writing a diagnosis switched from ascertaining a state of physical dependence and/or a withdrawal syndrome to a search for behaviours linked with craving together with behavioural dyscontrol, but to date no psychopathology specific to SUD has..." Pedro Ruiz, MD