Addiction during adolescence: affect and cognition. Symbolisation, cognitive inhibition and alexithymia
Addictive behaviours are frequent in adolescence. During this period, the literature indicates cognitive distortions that explain impulsivity, intolerance to frustration, and an inability to contain feelings. Cognitive psychology points to a failure in cognitive control, a failure to control actions, impulsivity and behaviours illustrating a lack of mental control. Psychodynamic psychopathology considers these same behaviours as privileged modalities of action, reflecting anti-representational functioning and symbolization failure. Failure in symbolization is associated with difficulties in affect elaboration and, in cognitive terms, duplication of the characteristics of alexithymia. In this article, the cognitive-emotional and affective functioning of adolescent and young adult addicts is studied. Through a synthetic review of the literature, the authors will consider the association of a cognitive inhibition deficit with the failure of symbolic thought in the addictive pathology of adolescents and young adults.