This month's National Geographic (September 2017) takes the topic of addiction. Although much research has been done, much ink has been spilled and many dollars spent, success in the treatment of addiction (on a basis of five years or longer) has not improved since the advent of 12-step programs over 70 years ago. Yet one treatment caught my eye.
The article highlights a treatment (or "technique") called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In addicts, neuroscientists discovered that that the region of the brain that inhibits behavior was abnormally quiet. If these quiet brain cells were activated or stimulated, then the addict might gain power to overcome the compulsion to use. This is critical as "lack of power is the dilemma."
In a sample group, TMS was much more successful than traditional approaches. However, the sample set was small and not placebo-controlled, as well as for an extremely short period of time - one month.
Intuitively, the idea is sound and has been successfully applied to depression and migraines. In the case of depression, TMS has to be repeatedly applied as the conditions of depression recur. It appears likely that the same pattern will occur using TMS for addition. So while it does not appear to be a permanent fix, it certainly has relative merit to drugs with their attendant side effects.
A wonderful book called "The Body Keeps The Score" by Van der Kolk seems to hold out what causes the recurrence. By focusing attention on treating the symptom rather than treating the cause, treatments are inevitably going to be overridden by the underlying condition. In addict parlance, it's why "the disease is doing pushups even when someone is sober."
