Applications of Human Behavioral Pharmacology to the Problems of Drug Addicts: A Brief Review

Abstract

The work of Abraham Wikler (1973) over the past three decades has called attention to the importance of conditioned responses in the addictive process. Drugs act as powerful forces in shaping behavior, both by their direct pleasant effects (positive reinforcement) and by their effects in relieving withdrawal symptoms (negative reinforcement). Wikler theorized that the environmental cues which have been repeatedly paired with drug-induced states may become conditioned stimuli. He observed that former addicts who are free of drugs often develop tearing and yawning (opiate withdrawal signs) when they discuss drugs in group therapy. He and others subsequently showed that withdrawal signs could become conditioned in animals (Wikler and Pescor, 1967; Goldberg and Schuster, 1970). More recently, conditioned withdrawal has been demonstrated in humans (O’Brien et al, 1975; O’Brien et al, 1977). These conditioned withdrawal responses are thought to be partly due to simple pairing of pharmacological withdrawal with environmental cues, and partly due to pairing of environmental stimuli with the body’s homeostatic mechanisms adapting to the onset of drug effects (Wikler, 1973; Siegel, 1974). Eventually the environmental stimuli themselves can elicit the adaptative response and this can be perceived as withdrawal.