OBJECTIVE Craving for benzodiazepines has never been examined as a factor of relapse after successful benzodiazepine discontinuation. In this study, we examined the predictive value of craving on benzodiazepine relapse. METHOD A stepped-care intervention trial aimed to discontinue long-term benzodiazepine use in general practice. The first step was the sending of a letter to users advising th...

Craving is what makes addiction to drugs so difficult to overcome. The intense craving that follows a cue that has been previously associated with the drug, combined with a stressful state or a dysphoric state, represents an unstoppable force that leads to drug intake and relapse for most addicted individuals. However, although difficult, some people successfully control this craving, but the b...

This is the first experimental study directed at differentiating between physiological or sensory accounts of the satiation of nondrug cravings, using chocolate craving, the most common craving in North America. At the onset of craving, chocolate cravers consumed a chocolate bar, the caloric equivalent in "white chocolate" (containing none of the pharmacological components of chocolate), the ph...

Many decisions related to cigarette smoking require people in an affectively neutral, or "cold," state to predict how they will feel or behave when in a craving, or "hot," state. Research in other domains has revealed that individuals in cold states often underestimate the impact of being in a hot state on their own future behavior. In a study testing whether this is true of cigarette craving, ...

BACKGROUND Individual differences may impact susceptibility to addiction. The impact of personality features on drug craving, however, has not been studied, particularly in women. METHODS Ninety-five treatment-seeking women with substance dependence, abstinent for at least 5 and no more than 21 days, were investigated regarding the correlation between personality factors and craving. Personal...

BACKGROUND There is growing interest and debate about whether an addictive process contributes to problematic eating outcomes, such as obesity. Craving is a core component of addiction, but there has been little research on the relationship between addictive-like eating, craving, and eating-related concerns. In the current study, we examine the effect of both overall food craving and craving fo...

Craving is an integral element in the understanding of alcohol dependence. Recent human and animal research implicates the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in the mediation of excessive alcohol consumption. In this study, a cue-based approach was used to qualify and quantify craving occurring during acute withdrawal from alcohol. Fifty alcoholics were given either placebo, bromocriptine or...

Food craving is often defined as a strong desire to eat. Much work has shown that it consistently and prospectively predicts eating and weight-related outcomes, contributing to the growing obesity epidemic. Although there are clear gender differences in the prevalence and health consequences of obesity, relatively little recent work has investigated gender differences in craving, or any sex-hor...

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of repeated unreinforced exposure to chocolate cues in persons reporting chocolate craving. Participants in the experimental group (n=40) received 10 consecutive brief exposures to chocolate cues in each of two sessions, separated by 1-3 days. Control participants (n=18) received two exposures at the start and end of each session. Chocolate cr...

Although one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese, developmental changes in food craving and the ability to regulate craving remain poorly understood. We addressed this knowledge gap by examining behavioral and neural responses to images of appetizing unhealthy foods in individuals ages 6 through 23 years. On close trials (assessing unregulated craving), participants focuse...