Thoraiya DyerIf you're an addict, here's your perfect chance at recovery
November 4th 2006 17:09
Here's something. I really should post a poll where everyone gets to choose whether they think biofeedback or hypnotism works or doesn't. In the past, scientists have proven that patients with chronic pain can actually "tell" their brains to stop the pain by imagining they are releasing pain-killing chemicals.
The thing is this concept is yet so vague that it remains an alternative method for treatment, much as you would acupuncture or reflexology.
Enter drug addiction. One way or another, the biofeedback method using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the avenues that medical researchers are looking into as a way to cure drug dependence. In this method, drug addicts undergoing rehabilitation may be trained to control the craving by summoning images in their brains that will help them pump down those craving tendencies.
For example, when they see a hypodermic, they would imagine a programmed gun beside it so that if they try to take it, they'd get shot in the hand.
If biofeedback works for chronic pain and drug addiction, won't it also be feasible for other types of diseases as well? For example, if porn addicts see Carmen Elektra or Jenna Jameson, they can summon the image of Margaret Thatcher in red bikini instead. And if food bingers see cakes and pies in their heads, they can imagine those sweets are made of mice meat and hippopotamus balls. Yum.
The thing is this concept is yet so vague that it remains an alternative method for treatment, much as you would acupuncture or reflexology.
Enter drug addiction. One way or another, the biofeedback method using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the avenues that medical researchers are looking into as a way to cure drug dependence. In this method, drug addicts undergoing rehabilitation may be trained to control the craving by summoning images in their brains that will help them pump down those craving tendencies.
For example, when they see a hypodermic, they would imagine a programmed gun beside it so that if they try to take it, they'd get shot in the hand.
If biofeedback works for chronic pain and drug addiction, won't it also be feasible for other types of diseases as well? For example, if porn addicts see Carmen Elektra or Jenna Jameson, they can summon the image of Margaret Thatcher in red bikini instead. And if food bingers see cakes and pies in their heads, they can imagine those sweets are made of mice meat and hippopotamus balls. Yum.
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