Repetition in the service of the erotisation of suffering. When addiction enters into the relationship to work: Theoretical considerations on a clinical case*

ABSTRACTThis article tries to reconsider the relationship to work that one can develop to the point when it impacts the intimate sphere. To do so, it shall question the role of the sexualisation of the suffering between subject and object of a work/job that has become the vector of an enjoyable torment. The study will focus on the clinical case of a patient who is being treated in psychoanalytical psychotherapy (she started the therapy 5 years ago). This patient maintains a relationship to her work that could be defined as “addictive.” The approach will be to use the psychodynamics of work (Dejours, 1992. “Pathologie de la communication. Situation de travail et espace public: le cas du nucleaire.” In Pouvoir et legitimite, Raison pratiques, edited by A. Cotterau and P. Ladriere, vol. 3, 177–201. Paris: Editions de l’EHESS; 2003. L’evaluation du travail a l’epreuve du reel: Critiques des fondements de l’evaluation. Paris: INRAA Editions) in perspective of Paul Denis’s work on satisfaction and influence. Th...