Parsing peak provoked craving

Provoked vestibulodynia: current perspectives

Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) refers to vulvar pain of at least 3 months duration, localized to the vestibule, provoked by touch and sexual activity and occurring in the absence of a clear identifiable cause. The clinical spectrum ranges from mild with distressing discomfort through to severe and disabling pain. Current understanding is that PVD is one of many chronic pain conditions characteri...

Thoughts provoked by this issue

Medications and alcohol craving.

The use of medications as an adjunct to alcoholism treatment is based on the premise that craving and other manifestations of alcoholism are mediated by neurobiological mechanisms. Three of the four medications approved in the United States or Europe for treating alcoholism are reported to reduce craving; these include naltrexone (ReVia), acamprosate, and tiapride. The remaining medication, dis...

What Is Craving?

Although many alcoholics experience craving, researchers have not yet developed a common, valid definition of the phenomenon. Numerous models of the mechanisms underlying craving have been suggested, however. One of those models—the neuroadaptive model—suggests that the prolonged presence of alcohol induces changes in brain-cell function. In the absence of alcohol, those changes cause an imbala...

Sensory imagery in craving

Sensory imagery is a powerful tool for inducing craving because it is a key component of the cognitive system that underpins human motivation. The role of sensory imagery in motivation is explained by Elaborated Intrusion (EI) theory. Imagery plays an important role in motivation because it conveys the emotional qualities of the desired event, mimicking anticipated pleasure or relief, and conti...