Repetitive addictive behaviors can be understood in terms of Freud's concept of repetition compulsion, whereby the subject persists in a cycle of enjoyment (jouissance in Lacanian terms) that exceeds the pleasure principle and even becomes painful. From a Lacanian perspective, addiction is closely linked to the drive, which emerges from the subject's (subject is a Lacanian term for unique -idiosyncratic- individual) relation to the symbolic register and the constitutive lack inherent to subjectivity. The present study examined the mediating role of life satisfaction in the relationship between behavioral control within the family and addictive behaviors. Seventy-nine adults who self-identified as addicted participated in the study. The Behavioral Control subscale of the Family Assessment Device was employed as the independent variable, the Satisfaction with Life Scale as the mediator, and the Addiction Profile Index as the dependent variable. Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes' PROCESS macro. Results indicated that behavioral control negatively predicted life satisfaction (β = -1.16, p < .05), and life satisfaction negatively predicted addiction severity (β = -0.93, p < .05). The direct effect of behavioral control on addiction was not significant (β = 0.39, p > .05), whereas the indirect effect through life satisfaction was significant (β = 1.08, p < .05). Findings indicate that dysfunctions in behavioral control within the family lower individuals' life satisfaction and thereby lay the groundwork for addictive behavior. While an overly controlling family may rigidly regulate an imaginary sense of wholeness and undermine the subject's autonomy, an overly permissive family may hinder the child's integration into the symbolic order, that is, into a network of language and meaning organized through norms like laws and boundaries. Thus, both family structures tend to prevent the subject from sufficiently engaging with the symbolic order, thus through reducing life satisfaction and potentially triggering addictive behaviors.