An Investigation of a New Aversive Conditioning Treatment for Alcoholism

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Abstract
A new technique for inducing conditioned responses by means of a traumatic event is described. The trauma is a paralysis and suppression of respiration, lasting 60 to 90 seconds, induced by an intravenous injection of 20 mg. of succinylcholine chloride dihydrate. During the paralysis alcohol is presented to the patient. The results obtained in 15 alcoholic patients indicate that a number of changes in behavior occur following the conditioning trial which are similar to the behavior found after traumatic conditioning in both animal and human subjects, e.g., longer latency of responses, and generalization. The treatment was ineffective in 3 patients who had experienced the same routine in a previous experiment without alcohol. Of 12 patients who experienced the treatment for the 1st time with an alcoholic beverage as the conditioned stimulus, a majority subsequently exhibited signs of aversion to all alcoholic beverages and even to suggestions of alcoholic beverages. A brief history of each patient is presented. It is not possible to assert that the changes observed are the result of a conditioned response; nor is an experience of the respiratory trauma sufficient to produce an insuperable loathing of alcohol. Methods of investigating the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment are discussed.

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