![Is addiction an environmental deficiency disease?]()
Winnicott saw how mental health problems could arise in later life if the environment of the infant were not ‘good enough’. This essay will look at what this is and the trauma that arises from ‘not good enough mothering.’ Winnicott (cited in Mitchell and Black, 1995, p125) used the phrase “environmental deficiency disease” to make the point that mental health problems like psychosis, depression or addiction were the symptoms of a disease that lies within. The term, ‘good enough mothering’, is what Winnicott believed was required to nurture a child into an emotionally healthy adult. The mental and physiological impacts of trauma often lead to loneliness. Loneliness can lead to addiction. This is one path that leads from traumatised infant to addicted adult trying to survive in an isolating environment. The parallels between Winnicott’s ‘environmental mother’ will be compared with the parallels of the adult environment that Johan Hari believes is not serving us anymore. Of course, there are many ways that a child can become addicted in adulthood, but these steps seem to be the most common in our society:
Not good enough mother > trauma > incapacity to be alone or to connect > depression & anxiety > addiction.
