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Why is an encounter with a patient who is an addict unlike all other encounters, an encounter that rejects and ejects, that absorbs and entraps? The pitfalls we encounter in the relationship between the caregiver and the addict are a function of the position held by patients and the “drug-object” in the psychic economy of the caregivers. This position seems to be correlated to our representation of the drug-object (pharmakon, poison/remedy) and of its function. “Non-specialist” hospital caregivers are identified with the “missing” drug-object and they identify their patients with the “poison” drug-object, thus expelling a destructive object which attacks healthcare head-on. Caregivers specializing in addictology identify themselves and are identified with the “remedy” drug-object. They substitute themselves, fill themselves, release tension; they let themselves be absorbed. By studying and interrogating these two kinds of identification, laying plain the position occupied by the patient and the drug-object in the psychic economy of a team of caregivers, we can attempt to make certain representations more supple and thus improve the care and the psychic treatment of these suffering patients.