Early recovery, a period marked by high risk of relapse, is a vulnerable time for individuals recovering from addiction.
Early recovery, a period marked by high risk of relapse, is a vulnerable time for individuals recovering from addiction.
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During active addiction, patients often feel compelled to continue using substances in order to experience normal levels of reward due to neuronal receptor down-regulation as the brain adapts to the presence of the drug (a process known as neurobiological neuroadaptation).
In early recovery (when the drug is no longer present), patients may have difficulty experiencing these normal levels of reward because the brain has not yet had sufficient time to recalibrate, readjust, and upregulate these receptors.
Previous studies showing the benefits of exercise interventions for patients with depression and for those in recovery from substance use disorders (see here), it is important to determine if such an intervention has an impact on depressive symptoms of patients in early recovery from methamphetamine (MA) use specifically.
Haglund and colleagues used data from a randomized controlled trial of 135 adults meeting DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine (MA) dependence in residential treatment to determine which patient factors predict the most significant decreases in depression. In the original study, patients were randomized to exercise training (n = 69) or health education (n = 66) each for three days a week for one hour. The exercise training consisted of supervised aerobic activity and resistance training individually or in pairs. Health education included topics such as nutrition and health screening recommendations.
Participants were about 30% female, 84% unemployed, had an average of 12 years of education, and were 32 years old on average. Methamphetamine (MA) use in the month prior to study enrollment was about 16 days on average. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between groups. When examining predictors of depression in both treatment groups, the authors found that individuals who injected MA, had been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons in the past 12 months, had been hospitalized for medical reasons in the past 12 months, and HIV positive individuals experienced significantly greater decreases in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) than their counterparts. For example, those who injected MA experienced a decrease in BDI of 10.59 points versus 8.54 for those who did not inject.
There were no baseline differences in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by group (13.7 for the exercise group versus 12.0 for the education group). By the end of the 8-week study, patients in the exercise group reported a significantly lower BDI score than those in the education group.
The authors also examined predictors of depression among exercise group participants finding largest reductions in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) among those who injected methamphetamine (MA), had worse medical and psychiatric conditions at baseline (measured by past 12 month hospitalizations), and HIV positive individuals.
When examining predictors of lowering depression in MA users in residential treatment, the authors of this study concluded that individuals with more severe addiction (i.e., injected methamphetamine (MA)) and poorer medical and psychiatric health at baseline achieved the greatest benefit from this exercise intervention
Haglund, M., Ang, A., Mooney, L., Gonzales, R., Chudzynski, J., Cooper, C. B., . . . Rawson, R. A. (2015). Predictors of depression outcomes among abstinent methamphetamine-dependent individuals exposed to an exercise intervention. Am J Addict, 24(3), 246-251. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12175
l
During active addiction, patients often feel compelled to continue using substances in order to experience normal levels of reward due to neuronal receptor down-regulation as the brain adapts to the presence of the drug (a process known as neurobiological neuroadaptation).
In early recovery (when the drug is no longer present), patients may have difficulty experiencing these normal levels of reward because the brain has not yet had sufficient time to recalibrate, readjust, and upregulate these receptors.
Previous studies showing the benefits of exercise interventions for patients with depression and for those in recovery from substance use disorders (see here), it is important to determine if such an intervention has an impact on depressive symptoms of patients in early recovery from methamphetamine (MA) use specifically.
Haglund and colleagues used data from a randomized controlled trial of 135 adults meeting DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine (MA) dependence in residential treatment to determine which patient factors predict the most significant decreases in depression. In the original study, patients were randomized to exercise training (n = 69) or health education (n = 66) each for three days a week for one hour. The exercise training consisted of supervised aerobic activity and resistance training individually or in pairs. Health education included topics such as nutrition and health screening recommendations.
Participants were about 30% female, 84% unemployed, had an average of 12 years of education, and were 32 years old on average. Methamphetamine (MA) use in the month prior to study enrollment was about 16 days on average. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between groups. When examining predictors of depression in both treatment groups, the authors found that individuals who injected MA, had been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons in the past 12 months, had been hospitalized for medical reasons in the past 12 months, and HIV positive individuals experienced significantly greater decreases in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) than their counterparts. For example, those who injected MA experienced a decrease in BDI of 10.59 points versus 8.54 for those who did not inject.
There were no baseline differences in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by group (13.7 for the exercise group versus 12.0 for the education group). By the end of the 8-week study, patients in the exercise group reported a significantly lower BDI score than those in the education group.
The authors also examined predictors of depression among exercise group participants finding largest reductions in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) among those who injected methamphetamine (MA), had worse medical and psychiatric conditions at baseline (measured by past 12 month hospitalizations), and HIV positive individuals.
When examining predictors of lowering depression in MA users in residential treatment, the authors of this study concluded that individuals with more severe addiction (i.e., injected methamphetamine (MA)) and poorer medical and psychiatric health at baseline achieved the greatest benefit from this exercise intervention
Haglund, M., Ang, A., Mooney, L., Gonzales, R., Chudzynski, J., Cooper, C. B., . . . Rawson, R. A. (2015). Predictors of depression outcomes among abstinent methamphetamine-dependent individuals exposed to an exercise intervention. Am J Addict, 24(3), 246-251. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12175
l
During active addiction, patients often feel compelled to continue using substances in order to experience normal levels of reward due to neuronal receptor down-regulation as the brain adapts to the presence of the drug (a process known as neurobiological neuroadaptation).
In early recovery (when the drug is no longer present), patients may have difficulty experiencing these normal levels of reward because the brain has not yet had sufficient time to recalibrate, readjust, and upregulate these receptors.
Previous studies showing the benefits of exercise interventions for patients with depression and for those in recovery from substance use disorders (see here), it is important to determine if such an intervention has an impact on depressive symptoms of patients in early recovery from methamphetamine (MA) use specifically.
Haglund and colleagues used data from a randomized controlled trial of 135 adults meeting DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine (MA) dependence in residential treatment to determine which patient factors predict the most significant decreases in depression. In the original study, patients were randomized to exercise training (n = 69) or health education (n = 66) each for three days a week for one hour. The exercise training consisted of supervised aerobic activity and resistance training individually or in pairs. Health education included topics such as nutrition and health screening recommendations.
Participants were about 30% female, 84% unemployed, had an average of 12 years of education, and were 32 years old on average. Methamphetamine (MA) use in the month prior to study enrollment was about 16 days on average. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between groups. When examining predictors of depression in both treatment groups, the authors found that individuals who injected MA, had been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons in the past 12 months, had been hospitalized for medical reasons in the past 12 months, and HIV positive individuals experienced significantly greater decreases in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) than their counterparts. For example, those who injected MA experienced a decrease in BDI of 10.59 points versus 8.54 for those who did not inject.
There were no baseline differences in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by group (13.7 for the exercise group versus 12.0 for the education group). By the end of the 8-week study, patients in the exercise group reported a significantly lower BDI score than those in the education group.
The authors also examined predictors of depression among exercise group participants finding largest reductions in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) among those who injected methamphetamine (MA), had worse medical and psychiatric conditions at baseline (measured by past 12 month hospitalizations), and HIV positive individuals.
When examining predictors of lowering depression in MA users in residential treatment, the authors of this study concluded that individuals with more severe addiction (i.e., injected methamphetamine (MA)) and poorer medical and psychiatric health at baseline achieved the greatest benefit from this exercise intervention
Haglund, M., Ang, A., Mooney, L., Gonzales, R., Chudzynski, J., Cooper, C. B., . . . Rawson, R. A. (2015). Predictors of depression outcomes among abstinent methamphetamine-dependent individuals exposed to an exercise intervention. Am J Addict, 24(3), 246-251. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12175
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