Stimulus Control In Addiction: What Is It?

Stimulus control in addiction is a basic technique for quitting harmful habits. Stimulus control techniques seek to eliminate forms of stimuli that trigger addictive behaviors. Although this article is mostly about addictions, you also need to know that stimulus control is appropriate in the context of all kinds of destructive habits.

Behavioral techniques act as a framework for this technique, self-control in particular. There are concrete actions aimed at eliminating, replacing or modifying stimuli. Thus, they can lead you to the response you want to remove.

As we mentioned above, this technique is quite simple. All you have to do is make secondary changes to avoid falling into this type of behavior.

But the fact that it is simple does not mean that it is easy to get results from it. Of course , both the patient and the therapist must approach this with empathy and commitment, then the results are almost guaranteed. 

Empathy

First, therapists must be empathetic with the person in front of them. They must do this without losing touch with reality. This is because not all desired stimuli will be appropriate. Thus, they have to find other alternatives.

The patient must also be highly motivated and convinced that they will change. According to the model of Prochaska and Di Clemente, it is difficult for a person to perform stimulus control in addiction if they are in the contemplative or pre-contemplative stage. The patient must make a decision and commit to following the therapist’s guidelines.

Ways to perform stimulus control in addiction

There are many ways to perform stimulus control in addiction. This ranges from direct elimination of the stimulus that elicits the response, to making physiological changes with the body. Whatever it is, the therapist knows that the patient can do it. But the most important thing is that the task must actually be possible to do. 

Thus, the last point will depend a lot on the case and the person’s resources, such as social support, self-control, motivation, etc.

With this in mind, it is clear that it is a better idea to work on the first links to the behavioral chain. If you are emotionally dependent on a person or if it depends entirely on your intake of alcohol whether you call them or not, you need to work on the urge to drink rather than the behavior that prevents you from calling.

How to perform stimulus control in case of addiction

• Remove background stimulus. This is a particularly good option when the addictive behavior is quite serious and the person lacks self-control. In a situation where they are trying to quit smoking and need to smoke a cigar when drinking coffee. In this case, the therapist must advise them to stop drinking coffee by and large. This is because they have a lot more self-control with this in mind, so they can avoid smoking in this situation.
• Mute background stimuli. This form of stimulus control is better in cases where the person has some self-control. Thus, they can not radically eliminate the background stimulus. If, for example, they have a strong impulse to buy things every time they go out. If this is the case, it is much more realistic to ask them to leave their credit card at home or bring less cash. In this case, it would not be realistic to ask them to cancel them or leave the home without any cash.

More methods…

• Delay the behavior. Another fairly effective way to deal with addictive behavior is by committing to delaying it. You often feel a strong impulse to go to the fridge and eat more. In this case, they have to make a point of not walking for at least 20 minutes. At the same time, it is important that they do something else to distract themselves. If they want to honor this commitment, the chances are high that the craving is gone afterwards.
• Make changes on a physiological level. Finally, a good alternative is to avoid falling into the traps of addiction by making changes to your own organism. There are cases of stimulus control for severe cases of alcoholism. There is a medicine called disulfiram or antabus. Alcoholics take the medicine and they work in the body by suppressing the enzyme that is responsible for the digestion of alcohol. Thus, the person will react poorly when exposed to alcohol; they may experience vomiting, palpitations and sweating, among other things.

In addition to this extreme case of stimulus control, another example of using changes that occur at the physiological level may be acting after eating lunch. This way, they will not be so hungry that they will not be attracted to high calorie foods.

Conclusion on stimulus control in addiction

When done correctly, addiction stimulus control can be very effective. But it is difficult if it is the only method you use. Thus, you need to use it along with other techniques to maximize your success.

When it comes to addiction, cognitive techniques can also be helpful. Their purpose is to change the patient’s misconception about their attachment problems. In the same way, they can also work with other methods, such as relaxation techniques to better cope with withdrawal symptoms and achieve clarity.