BACKGROUND The success of drug abuse treatment and relapse prevention methods depends widely on not only pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies but also self efficacy and self esteem promotion. OBJECTIVES The current study attempted to clarify the effects of Problem Solving Education (PSE) on relapse rate, self efficacy and self esteem among drug abusers. PATIENTS AND METHODS This ...

Stress and addiction are strongly related conditions that feedback onto each other at several levels. For example, exposure to stressors can cause relapse to abuse of diverse substances with addictive properties. Conversely, withdrawal from drugs of abuse, or even the state of craving in the absence of overt withdrawal, can serve as stressors that produce many of the same physiological effects ...

Extinction is the process by which a previously established stimulus relationship is broken by the removal of reinforcers and/or biologically relevant stimuli, causing a reduction in responding. Given the importance of this phenomenon in terms of understanding not only learning and behavior, but also of enhancing our understanding of drug addiction and treatment, there is renewed attention bein...

Contemporary learning theories of drug addiction ascribe a key role to Pavlovian mechanisms in the development, maintenance, and relapse addiction. In fact, cue-reactivity research has demonstrated power alcohol-associated cues activate brain’s reward system, which been linked craving subsequent relapse. However, whether de novo conditioning is altered alcohol use disorder (AUD) rarely investig...

Impulsive behavior problems are powerful predictors of addiction treatment outcomes. However, a comprehensive assessment these features has not been examined in relation to smoking cessation This study aims evaluate the capacity impulsive predict risk relapse and number relapses for smokers. The sample comprised 141 participants (Mage= 47.3, SD= 8.31; 59% females) psychopharmacology dependence ...

This article reviews progress in adapting addiction treatment to respond more fully to the chronic nature of most patients' problems. After reviewing evidence that the natural history of addiction involves recurrent cycles of relapse and recovery, we discuss emerging approaches to recovery management, including techniques for improving the continuity of care, monitoring during periods of abstin...

Since it is known that relapse, morality, and hospitalizations have been tied to the presence of the Dopamine D2 Receptor A1 allele, as one example, and carriers of this gene variant have a proclivity to favor amino-acid therapy, it seems intuitive that the incorporation of modalities to provide a balance and or restoration of hypodopaminergia should be considered as a front-line tactic to over...

This review will discuss the latest knowledge of how the endocannabinoid system might be involved in treating addiction to the most common illicit drugs. Experimental models are providing increasing evidence for the pharmacological management of endocannabinoid signaling not only to block the direct reinforcing effects of cannabis, opioids, nicotine and ethanol, but also for preventing relapse ...