Clinical Trials

If you’ve ever had a craving for chocolate, potato chips or anything else, you know how insistent that craving can be. The thought slips into your mind unnoticed, “I must eat chips”. Soon, it starts nagging insistently until you absolutely can’t ignore it. When fighting a craving, you’re fighting against…

Boy suffering from severe, chronic cough misses 113 days of school and is admitted to hospital 25 times in 14 months Over the past century, science and technology have made tremendous discoveries in the fields of health and medicine. The human body on its own is an intricate machine, but…

“If it weren’t for nicotine in tobacco smoke, people would be little more inclined to smoke than they are to blow bubbles or light sparklers” (Russell) M.A.H. Russell, a nicotine researcher who worked for Maudsley Hospital and the Addiction Research Unit in the Institute of Psychiatry in De Crespigny Park,…

Man suffering from 25-year-long compulsive handwashing behavior claims it occupies 90% of his time at home and has killed his social life In this clinical study (Le Boeuf, 1974), a 49-year-old man who had been suffering from compulsive handwashing behavior (a form of OCD) for 25 years, was treated with…

Sometimes all it takes to break a habit is awareness Habits have a way of insinuating themselves into our lives by becoming an unconscious action. We pair them with other behaviors which they seem to “feed off” of, until they become ingrained into our systems. For instance, if you’re a…

Institute of Behavior Therapy, New York — Electric jolts used to treat 23-year old graduate student’s 3-year heroin addiction This study (Lubetkin, Fishman, 1974) focuses on a 23-year old married graduate who, prior to seeking treatment, had been regularly injecting himself with heroin 2-3 times a day, with occasional breaks of…