Affective Neuroscience Contributions to the Treatment of Addiction: The Role of Social Instincts, Pleasure and SEEKING

Abstract

Addiction is an illness prevalent in the worldwide population that entails multiple health risks. Because of the nature of addictive disorders, users of drugs seldom look for treatment and when they do, availability can be difficult to access. Permanence in treatment and its outcomes vary from case to case. Most models work from a multidisciplinary approach that tackles several dimensions of addictive disorders. However, the different etiological factors claim for a personalized treatment to enhance opportunities for better results. Problems in relationships with others play an important role in the etiology and the recovery process of addiction. This paper focuses on the social-environmental causes of addiction based on an affective neuroscience approach that attempts to integrate the interplay between social instincts, pleasure, and the SEEKING system in addiction. To advance toward better treatment strategies, it is pertinent to understand the limitations of the current multidisciplinary models. Acknowledging the social nature of the human brain may help to identify the quality of different types of traumatic early life experiences in drug users and how to address them in what may become a neuropsychoanalytic treatment of addiction.

Türkiye’de Ergenlik Döneminde Bağımlılıkla Mücadele Konusunu Ele Alan Çalışmaların İncelenmesi: Teknoloji ve Madde Bağımlılıkları

“…Aynı zamanda bağımlılıkla mücadelede yer alan pek çok uygulama, kurum ya da kişi bulunmaktadır. Bunlardan bir kısmı bağımlılık gelişmeden önleyici faktörleri oluştururken, bir kısmı ise bağımlı bireylerin rehabilitasyon sürecinde koruyucu faktörlerini oluşturmaktadır (1,(53)(54)(55). İfade edilenlerin durumunun tespit edilerek yaklaşımda bulunmasının ise bağımlılıkla mücadelede önemli olduğu ve araştırmacıların da bu nedenle araştırmayı yaptıkları düşünülmektedir.…”

Can Contingency Management Solve the Problem of Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Drug-Dependent Individuals?

“…Among the most frequent causes of low adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and consequent resistance, drug use is at the top (Cook et al, 2008). This interaction between the etiological factors that make people vulnerable to drug dependence is the same as those associated with low adherence, including poverty and a lack of sufficient income to survive, genetic predisposition to dependence, and other untreated or undiagnosed mental health conditions (Clay et al, 2008; Flores Mosri, 2021). The issue around prohibition and the paradigm of total abstinence treatment translates into barriers to accessing HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) treatment (Csete et al, 2016).…”