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Is craving the source of compulsive drug use?
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. tiffany@psych.purdue.edu
Journal of Psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
|May 19, 1998
Summary
Compulsive drug use may stem from automatic behaviors rather than craving. This perspective allows for new cognitive science approaches to understanding addiction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Addiction Research
Background:
- Compulsive drug use is often defined by a loss of control and stimulus-bound consumption.
- The prevailing theory attributes compulsive drug use to drug craving.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the craving-based hypothesis of compulsive drug use.
- To propose automatized behavior as an alternative explanation for compulsive drug use.
Main Methods:
- Focused analysis of existing data on craving and drug use.
- Comparison of characteristics of compulsive drug use with automatized behavior.
Main Results:
- Data shows craving and drug use are not as tightly coupled as the craving hypothesis suggests.
- Compulsive drug use shares key characteristics with automatized behaviors, such as being stimulus-bound and difficult to control.
Conclusions:
- Automatized behavior offers a more fitting framework for understanding compulsive drug use than craving.
- Viewing drug compulsion as automaticity enables the application of cognitive science methodologies to addiction research.