Desensitizing Addiction: Using Eye Movements to Reduce the Intensity of Substance-Related Mental Imagery and Craving

Addiction is a chronic, hard-to-treat disorder, with great societal, economic and personal costs. Despite various treatment options, remission rates remain extremely high. It is of major importance to develop new and/or improve existing interventions. A potential new technique would be eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which is an effective, evidence-based treatment for PTSD. During this treatment patients recall a traumatic memory while making horizontal eye movements (EM). Several studies have shown that EM not only desensitize negative memories, but also positive memories and imaginary events. Because both memory associations and visual imagery play an important role in addiction, we expect that EM could be used to reduce vividness of substance-related mental representations and accompanying craving levels.

We investigated the effects of EM on 1) vividness of food-related mental imagery and food craving in dieting and non-dieting students, and 2) vividness of recent smoking-related memories and cigarette craving in daily smokers. In both experiments participants recalled the images while making EM or keeping eyes stationary. Image vividness and emotionality, image-specific craving and general craving were measured before and after the intervention. As a behavioral outcome measure, participants in study 1 were offered a snack choice at the end of the experiment.

Results of both experiments showed that while image vividness and craving increased in the control condition, these measures remained stable or decreased after the EM intervention. In experiment 2, EM additionally reduced image emotionality. In experiment 1, EM also affected behavior: participants were more inclined to choose healthy over unhealthy snack options.

In conclusion, data suggest that EM can be used to reduce intensity of substance related imagery and craving. Although results should be replicated in participants seeking treatment, and long-term effects are yet to be demonstrated, they suggest that EMDR might be a useful technique in addiction treatment.