THE CONCEPT OF ADDICTION IN PSYCHOPATHOLO GY

The adoption by psychopathology of the notion addiction has several im plications : 1) the consideration of the etymological origins of the w ord addiction and its current overuse; 2) the examination of its meani ng in historical and evolutional terms, and 3) the recognition of its principal definitions, together with their idiosyncratic differences, in the investigation of its conceptual application. This study seeks t o edity these issues through an in-depth examination of nicotine addic tion - a disorder that has been largely neglected in psychopathologica l research by focusing on its nosological position in relation to and its links with other disorders.