[Clinical aspects and therapeutic positioning in addictology].

The concept of addiction emerged subsequent to the moral approaches of the end ofthe 19th century as a pathological behaviour. The manuals which classify mental disorders, together with the notion of substance-related disorders, enable them to be approached with a medical vision. The subject of numerous, often heated or divisive debates, addictology requires a clinical approach.

[Relevance of hospitalization in addictologic care].

Relevance of hospitalization in addictologic care. Curing drug addictions requires long-term, mostly ambulatory, care. Regardless, hospitalization may be pertinent in certain situations.

[General principles of treatment in addictology].

General principles of treatment in addictology. Among all mental disorders, addictive pathologies are serious disorders. Their prognosis is severe.