Alcohol: a drug of dreams

In this paper I have explored the way in which regressive phantasies of fusion may be brought into being by the heavy consumption of alcohol and the cerebral changes which result, which impair the individual's capacity to digest new information and experience; change therefore has to be resisted and loss and depressive anxiety cannot be experienced and worked through, hindering individuation. Two paradigms, one based on organic brain function and the other on psychodynamic understanding are brought together and shown not to be contradictory.