Behavioural interventions: aversion therapy and covert sensitisation
Aversion therapy and covert sensitisation are treatments that pair an addictive behaviour with something unpleasant. This trains the person to associate the addiction with discomfort, reducing their desire for it.
Real World
Antabuse (disulfiram) is prescribed to people with alcohol addiction — if they drink, the drug triggers severe nausea and vomiting, so over time they learn to associate alcohol with feeling violently ill rather than with pleasure.
Exam Focus
Distinguish clearly between aversion therapy (real stimulus + real unpleasant response) and covert sensitisation (imagined stimulus + imagined unpleasant response).
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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