jevans@pickenssentinel.com
PICKENS COUNTY - A local research program aims to help recovering meth addicts face - and ultimately overcome - temptation.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, admissions for methamphetamine use more than doubled between 1995-2005.
The Behavior Health Services of Pickens County study assesses the effects of "cue exposure on craving and extinction in methamphetamine-using individuals," said Margaret Garrett, BHS research liaison.
The research is being conducted in conjunction with the Medical University of South Carolina and is funded by a revolving grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Pickens County is the only site in the country to be conducting the meth study.
"We have people come in and we show them cues related to methamphetamine use," she said. "That can be pictures, videos, paraphernalia, things that have the possibility of producing a craving in them."
As the participants are exposure various cues, staff monitor their heart rates and skin response.
"We get them to report to us their experience of craving while they're being shown those cues and their mood," Garrett said.
The project is a research project, not a source of treatment, she said.
"We are hoping to see that continuous exposure to those triggers will overtime decrease (participants') response to them," Garrett said. "Over time, they're not going to have that same response."
While some might think inciting a craving in users is cruel, the study is designed to have people deal with those cravings in a safe environment.
"(We want) it to be like their real life here, but in a safe environment," said Director of Research Elizabeth Chapman. "So when they go home and see the same things, they're able to deal with it more effectively."
After their last cue exposure session, staff holds follow-up sessions with participants in the study.
"We follow up one week and then one month after the study is over," Garrett said.
The study may continue for four years, Garrett said.
Cue exposure studies are effective in treating phobias as well, Chapman said.
"If someone has a problem with bridges and you keep showing them bridges and bridges and bridges, eventually they're going to have a less of an effect," she said.
BHS is also participating in a prescription pill abuse study, combining two treatments - counseling and an FDA-approved medication - into one study, Chapman said.
"They'll have total continual care," she said. "They'll have the medication, they'll see a doctor and they'll have a counselor. Hopefully we'll see results from that."
Participation in the studies is voluntary and patients are in the meth study are compensated for their time, Garrett said.
"Everyone's information is kept confidential," she said.
For more information on the studies, call Chapman at 898-2938.
Post a Comment
