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'Insight' Deficit May Explain Denial in Drug Addiction; Researchers Explore Role of Mental-Illness |
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Drug abusers are often characterized as being in "denial" - not recognizing the severity of their disorder. Although "denial" is often considered to be a form of deception, emerging research suggests that it may be due to a specific brain dysfunction similar to that observed in other neuropsychiatric illnesses. Brookhaven's Goldstein explains the idea of impaired insight and how it might relate to drug addiction: "Patients suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia often have compromised awareness of their own symptoms and the severity of their disorder. This compromise can exacerbate symptoms and reduce responsiveness to or compliance with treatment," she said. This "insight deficit" appears to originate from impairments in many of the same brain regions that underlie addiction symptoms - such as continued drug use despite catastrophic consequences, even when the drug is no longer pleasurable. Such impaired insight might help explain why drug-addicted patients often have a hard time recognizing, accepting, and/or acknowledging their own signs and symptoms of addiction, as well as the need for treatment. Anna Rose Childress, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will discuss how subcortical brain regions respond to drug-related stimuli, even without conscious awareness, and how these brain responses can predict emotional reactions and behavior in drug addiction. Rita Goldstein's work at Brookhaven Lab is funded by the DOE's Office of Science and by NIDA. One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Visit Brookhaven Lab's electronic newsroom for links, news archives, graphics, and more: http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom.
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