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Personality and Psychopathology pp 247–260Cite as

I Don’t Want to Want to: Intentionality and Craving in Addiction

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Abstract

What does it mean to crave something? And what is the relationship between desire and choice? These questions lie at the heart of the vast field of addiction research. Clinicians and researchers from many different theoretical schools ask why substance abusers focus on the immediate positive short-term effects of the substance rather than the devastating long-term effects they know will follow. Less attention is paid, however, to the subjective experience of the craving or urge associated with this addictive behavior, or to the context of attitudes and decisions required for it to occur. Perhaps, this is why Marlatt and Witkiewitz (2005) describe craving as “possibly the most widely studied and the most poorly understood concept in the study of drug addiction” (p. 18).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For more detailed description of the study design, methods, coding criteria and findings, see Greenstein (1994).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Mindy Greenstein (Consulting Psychologist)

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  1. Mindy Greenstein
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Correspondence to Mindy Greenstein .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Williams College Health Center, Knoll Road 105, Williamstown, 01267, Massachusetts, USA

    Craig Piers

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Greenstein, M. (2011). I Don’t Want to Want to: Intentionality and Craving in Addiction. In: Piers, C. (eds) Personality and Psychopathology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6214-0_11

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