Addictions

Addiction is a brain-based problem, and it demands a brain-based solution. The will is over-rated when it comes to the addicted brain. Fortunately, a new era opened up at the outset of the "Decade of the Brain" with the publication in 1989 of Eugene Peniston's epoch-making study of Viet Nam Veteran alcoholics (see Alcoholism below). Our own research group participated in a replication of this work, and it included a variety of drugs of choice. The result was that outcome was in no way dependent on the drug of preference, whether we were talking about heroin or crack cocaine or methamphetamine or alcohol.

The inclusion of Neurofeedback in residential treatment tripled the favorable outcome in terms of relapse prevention over the best conventional treatment when looked at one year post-treatment. At three years, the ratio was even better.

It is estimated that for every dollar spent in addictions treatment, the society saves $7. This appears to be the case even with simply abominable outcome statistics in conventional treatment. Multiply this by a factor of three and we see that the society is better off by $21 for every dollar spent in treatment. And the formerly addicted person is clearly better off as well. The implementation of Neurofeedback-augmented treatment programs should be a priority for our society.

Other Resources:

Substance Abuse and Addictions Research