Un texte médical de 1561 sur l’addiction. Le traité de Pascasius

A 16th century doctor, Pascasius Justus wrote a treatise on gambling that in many respects foreshadowed our contemporary conceptions on excessive or pathological gambling. The nature of this text constitutes a new “birth certificate” for addictive disorders, since it clearly distinguishes between normal and excessive gambling. It also suggests an explanatory “bio-psychological” model as well as therapy through dialogue, the ancestor to our psychotherapies. The text contrasts with the medical literature of the time. It does not draw on religious explanations for gambling and does not in any way demonize gamblers. This important text was reprinted several times but did not find a significant following, similarly to Jerome Cardan’s work on games of chance. However, the history of addictions must deepen the concepts expressed long before the emblematic work by Benjamin Rush at the end of the 18th century, the era of democratic ideals such as liberty and individual autonomy. Not all are based on a preconceived “moral/religious” model. The most recent debates concerning the epistemology of addictions without substances could be enhanced by this text. Other physicians since the Antiquity have also written on the subject of passion and habits.