Harold Lewis has been fighting drug addiction for years, but only recently started thinking recovery could be fun.
The 59-year-old former cook earned small prizes — candy, gum, gift cards, sunglasses and headphones — for attending meetings and staying in treatment for opioid addiction during a 12-week program in Bridgeport, Connecticut.For an increasing number of Americans, addiction treatment involves not only hard work, but also earning rewards — sometimes totaling $500 — for negative drug tests or showing up for counseling or group meetings.
Medication can help people quit abusing opioids, but stimulant addiction has no effective medicine. Rewards programs — especially when the dollar value increases with consistent performance — are widely recognized as the most effective treatment for people addicted to stimulants. More than 150 studies over 30 years have shown rewards work better than counseling alone for addictions including cocaine, alcohol, tobacco and, when used alongside medications, opioids.
“Biologically, the use of substances lights up the same part of the brain that is lit up when a person wins the lottery, falls in love or experiences something really positive and exciting," said psychologist Sara Becker of Northwestern University.“That’s part of what’s powerful about these programs,” Becker said.
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