About the Blog Author-John R. Hughes, MD
John R. Hughes, MD is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Family Practice at the University of Vermont. Dr. Hughes is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. His major focus has been clinical research on tobacco use. Dr. Hughes received the Ove Ferno Award for research in nicotine dependence and the Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health. He is a co-founder and past president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence. Dr. Hughes has been Chair of the Vermont Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board which oversees VT’s multi-million dollar tobacco control programs. He has over 400 publications on nicotine and other drug dependencies and is one of the world’s most cited tobacco scientist. Dr. Hughes has been a consultant on tobacco policy to the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the White House. His current research is on how tobacco users and marijuana users stop or reduce use on their own, novel methods to prompt quit attempts by such users, whether smoking cessation reduces reward sensitivity and whether stopping e-cigarettes causes withdrawal. Dr Hughes has received fees from companies who develop smoking cessation devices, medications and services, from governmental and academic institutions, and from public and private organizations that promote tobacco control.
News
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Another New Behavioral Treatment for Tobacco Dependence
For many years there was a dearth of research on new behavioral treatments for tobacco dependence, but recently we have had several; e.g., Mindfulness therapy (MT), Acceptance/Commitment Therapy (ACT), Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) , Positive Psychotherapy(PP) and Contingency Management (CM). One other possible new treatment that has yet to be formally tested is manipulating behavioral substitutes and complements‐two constructs developed from Behavioral Economics Theory. Substitutes.... -
Have we failed to detect some withdrawal symptoms?
Thirty years ago, a list of signs and symptoms of tobacco withdrawal were derived from experimental studies. Amazingly, since then not a single new symptom has been included in the DSM or most other definitions of withdrawal. How likely is it that the scientists got it exactly right back then?
In fact, several new symptoms to include have been suggested. The two with probably the most data are anhedonia (decrease in pleasure or interest in...