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Symptom substitution is a real though difficult-to-measure phenomenon in some cases.

Symptoms can have deeper psychological significance or meaning.

Suppressing symptoms makes it more difficult to discern their potentially helpful message.

One example of symptom substitution relates to what we have discovered about the effective treatment of substance abuse and addiction, in which the addictive behavior itself is seen today as the primary problem, as opposed to a symptom of another issue, and is directly addressed during treatment. But I would argue that while this may be the most pragmatic and efficacious treatment approach for substance use disorders, this does not preclude the possibility that the addictive behavior is driven or motivated by underlying emotional or psychological issues such as anxiety or depression, which, when unresolved or unaddressed, can lead to relapse from sobriety or to the formation of sundry psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, rage attacks, or other compulsive behaviors like workaholism, gambling, or compulsive sex, among others. There are reasons that addicts do what they do that underlie and perpetuate the symptoms of substance abuse itself.

Symptom Substitution Can Manifest in Personality Disorders

Treatment of so-called personality disorders—chronic, rigid, and pervasive patterns of distressing, destructive, or debilitating subjective experience and objective behaviors—excellently exemplifies this fascinating phenomenon insofar as the constellation of symptoms comprising, for instance, narcissistic (see my previous post), antisocial, or borderline personality disorder, are expressions of the underlying character structure........

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