Volitional problems in carrying through a difficult decision: the case of drug addiction

Attempts by young drug addicts to decrease or quit drug consumption were studied by means of a series of interviews. Interest was focused on volitional problems arising due to difficulties in living up to commitments in the face of temptations and various types of emotional stress. It was found that relapses occurred mostly under the influence of emotional stress and that they were preceded by various forms of twisted reasoning, a finding similar to those for other types of addictive behaviors such as smoking and alcoholism. The techniques used by the drug addicts to fight temptations were similar to those reported by other patients. Knowledge of techniques seemed to be rather scarce. There was a correlation between knowledge of technique and success in quitting drug habits. Strong stimulus pull factors were evident in some cases and were apparently counteracted by more or less successful attempts by the patients to escape the tempting situation.