WSU College of Medicine researcher Michael McDonell, PhD, was quoted in a CNN article on the efficacy of contingency management as a behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction. In the article, McDonell discusses the necessary and urgent need for effective treatments for both opioid and stimulant addiction.
As there are currently no medications approved to treat stimulant addiction, contingency management remains the most effect intervention, but it faces some challenges to implementation due to stigma and policy barriers, McDonell said.
Contingency management encourages abstinence using positive reinforcement. Though it is the most effective behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction, it remains underutilized according to the according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. McDonell shared some of the common barriers facing contingency management in the article.
“As there are currently no medications approved to treat stimulant addiction, contingency management remains the most effect intervention, but it faces some challenges to implementation due to stigma and policy barriers,” McDonell told CNN.