"Running head: AVERSION THERAPY1AVERSION THERAPYStudent’s Name:Institution: Running head: AVERSION THERAPY2IntroductionAversion therapy mostly uses behavioral principles in terms of conditioning in thistherapy; the patient is conditioned in a certain way to associate their addiction with a verynegative outcome. The therapy can be chemically based, whereby Antabuse substance interfereswith an individual’s metabolism process when alcohol is consumed. Through the chemicalsubstance when one consumes alcohol, the Antabuse prevents the alcohol from being brokendown; when this is done the individual experiences really bad effects that are similar to those ofsevere hangover. These effects include nausea, an increased heart rate; others may experiencebreath shortness and severe vomiting. Another form of aversion therapy includes the use ofhypnosis; this as well causes discomfort in an individual. Through this therapy an individual willassociate drinking with uncomfortable situations.Summary of article by Jordan on Aversion Therapy“Aversion Therapies in the treatment of alcoholism” by Jordan is an article regarding theuse of aversion therapy in treatment of alcoholism. The reason Jordan conducted this study wasto find out whether aversion therapy is of value towards treating alcoholism. In the first part ofhis article Jordan looks at the theory part of the therapy and compares it with the data collectedfrom clinical experiments.Second part of his article interprets the findings mostly empirical on whether the aversiontherapy is of value in treating alcoholism among the affected individuals. He looks atexperiments done in Schick Shadel Sanatorium. In the experiment Emetine is used together withalcoholic beverages so as to produce repulsive reaction towards alcohol. He explains the effectsof the therapy on some of the patients; whereby some of them experienced paralysis, nausea andvomiting. The post treatment period proved that most of the patients showed a very intense Running head: AVERSION THERAPY3behavioral reaction towards being given alcohol for the second time. Most of them did not wantto taste alcohol again; as the author describes, one even threw the bottle that was given to him onthe floor. Another patient did not lift a bottle after the therapy but he was able to lift a flashlightthat was used to inspect his eyes (Jordan K, 2007).Jordan describes symptoms that patients showed in their follow up clinics from 3 weeksup to one year. Some of patients exhibited dizziness, anxiety, fear and guilt regarding alcoholismas well as crying spells. He describes the empirical findings of the patients in the clinicalexperiment; whereby, two thirds of the patients exhibited such symptoms when they wereapproaching alcohol or were just seeing it being displayed, as headache, sweating and trembling.Eleven patients showed disgust towards alcohol. After one year follow up, most patients did notexhibit any physical signs or emotional disturbances. Some patients, however, reported reactionto some other liquids, other than that of alcoholic beverages, such as vinegar, (Center for diseasecontrol and prevention, 2006).Some other patients, however, showed that the therapy did not prevent them fromdrinking again. One patient approached alcohol in a fridge like it was a dangerous thing butwhen he drank a few sips and his anxiety did not increase, he drank the whole bottle and went fora crate. During the one year follow up, 10% of the patients kept away from alcohol, 64% did notstop drinking but reduced their intake, 20% continued drinking but did not have a drinkingproblem and 6% of the patients died of alcohol related diseases. Jordan concluded that thechance of the therapy making a patient quit alcohol was very slim and cannot be considered moreeffective than other methods of curbing alcoholism. He recommended that a thorough analysis ofalcoholism is required to enable a well informed treatment regime since alcoholism comes with alot of disabilities and disorders. Running head: AVERSION THERAPY4Principle of conditioningThe principle of conditioning is incorporated by the use of experimental conditioning,whereby they condition negative responses, such as electric shock or other substances that leadto uncomfortable situations when alcohol is ingested. Some patients are administered withdisulfiram; this is an Antabuse that makes the patient to have physical reactions. When thepatient imagines drinking alcohol, images of physical reactions will deter him from takingalcohol. Through this therapy patients are able to have repulsion when it comes to alcohol.Effectiveness of the aversion therapy studyAversion therapy makes an individual have repulsion when he/ she gets in contact withalcohol. Some of the patients may exhibit such repulsions when in treatment, but after theirtreatment cycle is over, they relapse to old habits of drinking and the study in this case will bevery ineffective.Furthermore, the study faces a lot of ethical issues on the use of intense and violentreactions to curb alcoholism; it is the major concern in the use of punishment as a way oftreatment. Some of the reactions, such as anxiety, also may interfere with treatment of the patientrendering the study ineffective. The study lacks scientific proofs to support its activities as wellas its effectiveness in controlling alcoholism in individuals. All in all, the effectiveness of thisstudy is questionable, since ways the patients may act during therapy are different from thoseafter therapy, when all the electric shocks and substances are withdrawn (Witkiewitz K. G andMarlatt, A., 2011).The article by Jordan was very effective in that most studies show that the value ofaversion therapy depends on a number of factors. The article is focused on various factors towhich the patients were conditioned, as to get accurate data to analyze effectiveness of the Running head: AVERSION THERAPY5aversion therapy. Aversion therapy is yet to proof its effectiveness in controlling alcoholism andfurther research is to be done in order to ensure efficient and effective results in the future.DefinitionAntabuse is a medicine that was approved for treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence. Running head: AVERSION THERAPY6ReferencesJordan K, 2007.Aversion therapy for treatment of alcoholism. Yahoo! Retrieved June21, 2012 from http://voices.yahoo.com/pavlovian-principles-serve-as-cornerstone-treating- 498187.htmlWitkiewitz K. G and Marlatt, A. 2011. Behavioral therapy across the spectrum.Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CXH/is_4_33/ai_n57440156/Center for disease control and prevention, 2006.Alcohol and Public Health. Retrieved June 21, 2012 from http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/index.htmhttp://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/aversiontherapy.php "