Alcohol dependence is thought of as a disorder with an overwhelming impulsive and compulsive “drive” towards alcohol consumption (Kamarajan et al. 2005), and an inability to “hit the brakes”, or inhibit alcohol consumption despite negative biological, psychological, legal, and social consequences (American Psychiatric Association 1994). Functional neuroimaging studies […]
A neural basis of so-called Alcoholic Denial? by alcoholicsguide Clinicians and treatment providers working with addicted individuals often talk about addicts denying their condition at least part of the time. Although denial has often been conceptualised within a psycho-analytic framework as being a defense mechanism guarding against anxiety some research suggests […]
Throughout our blogs thus far, we have attempted to highlight how emotional dysregulation appears to prevalent to all aspects of alcoholism and addiction from pre-morbid vulnerability to endpoint compulsive addictive behaviours. Here we highlight a few articles which have considered how prevalent is emotional dysregulation in alcoholism and […]
A core aspect of alcohol dependence is poor regulation of behavior and emotion. Alcohol dependent individuals show an inability to manage the appropriate experience and expression of emotion (e.g., extremes in emotional responsiveness to social situations, negative affect, mood swings) (1,2). Dysfunctional emotion regulation has been considered a […]
In this blog we are concerned in various ways with how emotional processing and regulation deficits appear at the heart of addictive behaviours such as distress based impulsivity and a decision making profile which seems to favour short term decision making over long term regardless of long term […]
Treating Addiction as an Emotional Regulation and Processing Disorder Translating accurate diagnosis into effective treatment Around this time last year and just weeks before The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (1), DSM-5, was due to appear, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), […]
Emotional dysregulation and altered reward sensitivity may underpin impulsive behavior and poor decision-making. Both of these tendencies can be seen in the “real-world” behavior of addicted individuals, but can also be studied using laboratory-based paradigms. Addiction is associated with a loss of control over drug use which continues in […]
Most alcoholics have difficulties with emotional and stress regulation.
As we have already suggested we feel that two main modifications need to be considered in relation to existing ‘conditioning’ theories of addiction : – 1. In neurobiological accounts of addiction there is no such thing as a positive or a negative reinforcement model of addiction or, in […]
An alternative definition of Addiction? Before we discuss the enormous contributions made by neurobiological ‘conditioning’ theories of addiction we will discuss alternatives to these theories of addiction. Interestingly, the theories we posit here, which are based on the role of emotional dysregulation in addiction and alcoholism build on […]
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