... used aversive medication in alcoholism treatment is disulfiram. Disulfiram causes an unpleasant reaction when the patient consumes alcohol. The medication causes nausea, vomiting, flushing, and increased blood pressure and heart rate when the patient ingests alcohol. The primary value of drugs of this type seems to be their ability to interrupt the alcoholic cycle for a period ... reduce the "craving" for alcohol that alcoholics experience by blocking the pleasure producing effects of alcohol. O"Malley, Jaffe, Rode, and Rounsaville (1996) have shown that naltrexone reduced the alcohol i...

• Word Count: 2875
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate