Cover Story:
Mobile Electro Therapy
& Drug Withdrawal.

Therapy Closeup:
Wrist to Wrist Stimulation.

Special Guest Contributor:
Pat Searles, Snr. Counsellor
Drug Users Parents' Aid Foundation (DUPA).

User Profiles:
Two ex-drug users tell their stories.

The Fact Files:
Medical research from around the world in support of Electrical Stimulation in drug withdrawal programs.

Efficiency of Transcranial Electrostimulation on Anxiety and Insomnia symptoms during a washout period in Depressed patients. A double-blind study.

Biol Psychiatry 1991 Mar 1;29(5):451-456
Philip P, Demotes-Mainard J, Bourgeois M, Vincent JD
UICA, Centre Hospitalier Specialise Charles Perrens, Bourdeaux, France.

In order to test the efficacy of cerebral electrostimulation (electrosleep) as an alternative to drug therapy for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia, we conducted a double-blind study in a sample of 21 depressed inpatients submitted to a 5-day period of drug washout on admission to the psychiatric department.

During this withdrawal period, anxiety and insomnia were exacerbated in the placebo group, whereas anxiety decreased and sleep duration improved in the active treatment group, with a divergent evolution during the 5-day washout period. The depressive criteria did not respond differentially to treatment, however. Thus, the effects of this drug washout period are markedly attenuated by cerebral electrostimulation, which is of possible interest in the management of psychotropic drug withdrawal.

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