FED: Drug addicts find less pleasure in everyday life: study
04 Feb 2009 2:32 AM
Subject: FED: Drug addicts find less pleasure in everyday life: study FED: Drug addicts find less pleasure in everyday life: study
New Australian research has found drug addicts find it harder to derive pleasure from everyday life.
The study examined 33 heroin addicts on opiate replacement .. whose brain activity was measured as they looked at pictures of drug and non-drug related scenes.
Associate Professor DAN LUBMAN says the addicts showed elevated responses to drug images .. but little interest in otherwise pleasurable non-drug scenes.
Dr LUBMAN says the alternative images included attractive people engaged in fun activities .. delicious food .. and things that people normally rank as being quite pleasurable .. like animals.
He says their findings suggest drug users have a reduced ability to enjoy everyday pleasures .. and their brains remain excited by the prospect of continued drug use .. and he expects similar results with all drugs of addiction .. including alcohol.
The research findings are published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
AAP RTV dr/crh =0A
FED: Drug addicts find less pleasure in everyday life: study