Does Demonstra of Reaction Time in Crease The Effectiveness of Counseling in Chronic Alcoholics?

1 Department of Physiology, Father Muller’s Medical College, Kankanady, 2 Department of Bioscience, Mangalore University, Karnataka. Address for Correspondences Ltha Rajendra Kumar, Present address: Faculty of Medicine, Asian Institute of Medical Science and Technology, Semeling, Kedah, Malaysia. email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Alcohol abuse is a known social problem world wide. Reaction time of an individual measures elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. Alcohol, a CNS depressant, is known to slow down central nervous system and motor in coordination. Measurement of reaction time and demonstration of any alterations to the subjects could facilitate in counseling in chronic alcoholics. Both visual and auditory reaction time was found to be significantly reduced in chronic alcoholics. The direct impact of viewing this effect helped in counseling and reducing the relapse rate. Increased number of patients reported better motivation and its usefulness in prevention of relapse and motivational enhancement treatment.