Virtual reality cue exposure therapy for opioid recovery

Trigger Scene

Cue exposure may help recovering addicts learn to resist drugsMartin et al., 2010 because of a psychological phenomenon called extinction.Wikipedia Extinction occurs when we trigger behaviors (like drug use) but do not reward them. This gradually rewires the brain to not expect a reward (like pleasure) from the behavior.

Virtual cue exposure therapySegawa et al., 2020 triggers drug use behavior in environments where the drug isn't available. This facilitates recovery by extinction of addiction: rather than avoid drugs, we rewire the brain to not want them.

The link below shows a 3D scene with objects used to take heroin.
WARNING: This scene may trigger drug cravings.Marissen et al., 2007

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Craving Scale

We generalize the Penn Alcohol Craving ScaleFlannery et al., 1999 to other forms of substance abuse. This five-question scale helps measure and track drug cravings weekly over an extended period of time.

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Resources