Wise, R. A. & Koob, G. F. (2014). The development and maintenance of drug addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology (New York, N.Y.), 39(2), 254–262. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2013.261


Arizona State University

Negative reinforcement, defined as the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, was one of the earliest theories proposed to explain addictive behavior.

The basic idea is that drug/alcohol use reduces the negative symptoms of withdrawal, which prompts users in acute withdrawal to engage in drug use to lessen the effects of these negative symptoms. Withdrawal is associated with a negative emotional state and symptoms such as anxiety, chronic irritability, malaise, dysphoria, sleep disturbances, physical pain and fatigue, and decreased pain thresholds. Acute withdrawal is linked to decreased activity of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system and neuroadaptive changes in the nucleus accumbens.

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