A Century of Proof: Electricity Helps Beat Alcoholism

Science determined to beat alcoholism once and for all — Results encouraging

Science has long been on a quest to find better methods for curing alcoholism.

One such method uses small electric jolts to create an aversion towards the sight, taste and smell of alcohol.

Over the past 80+ years, laboratory tests, research papers and clinical studies have proven this method an effective tool against alcoholism.

1929: Russian Physician successfully treats alcoholics with Small Electric Jolts – 20 months later 70% still fully abstinent

Back in 1929, a Russian physician by the name of Nikolai Kantorovich treated 20 patients suffering from alcoholism.

The participants were subjected to the sight, smell and taste of alcohol, and then given electric jolts.

The treatment proved dramatically successful as 70% of the participants were found completely abstinent up to 20 months after the treatment.

In the 1960s, the approach started receiving considerable attention. It was simple to use, easier to control, and offered less unpleasant consequences than other aversive methods such as chemical aversion (Begleiter, Galanter, 1983).

Research continues to confirm electric jolts effective against alcoholism

Since Kantorovich’s success in 1929 using jolts to help end alcoholism, studies have continued to emerge proving the effectiveness of this method.

Lovibond and Caddy (1970) achieved impressive results with 89% of the participants successfully responding to the treatment, and maintaining their results for up to 6 months.

The method they used was similar to that used by Kantorovich.

Incidentally, rather than develop aversion towards alcohol, the participants seemed to lose their desire to drink (Lovibond, Caddy, 1970).

Why do we need science to break free of alcoholism?

We live in a culture where drinking is an acceptable social activity. And as long as it’s under control, there’s really nothing wrong with it.

But when control slips and drinking becomes excessive, a whole chain of events is set in motion. Excessive drinking will often lead to problems at home and at work. It takes its toll on body, mind, finances and relationships.

As the social emotional problems grow so does the drinking, in a desperate attempt to get away, creating a vicious cycle that reinforces itself over and over.

Luckily, awareness of this cycle is the first step towards recovery. In fact, attention to these problems can facilitate the prospect of therapeutic success (Begleiter, Galanter, 1983).

But awareness is rarely enough to eliminate the problem.

That’s why science has been hard at work to find a definitive solution. And from the studies mentioned in this article, science seems to be getting closer to this holy grail.

References

Begleiter, H., & Galanter, M. (1983). Recent developments in alcoholism: An official publication of the American Medical Society on Alcoholism, the Research Society on Alcoholism, and the National Council on Alcoholism. New York: Plenum.

Blake, B. (1965, 12). The application of behaviour therapy to the treatment of alcoholism. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 3(2), 75-85. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(65)90010-0

Kissin, B., & Begleiter, H. (1977). Treatment and rehabilitation of the chronic alcoholic. New York: Plenum Press.

Lovibond, S., & Caddy, G. (1970, 12). Discriminated aversive control in the moderation of alcoholics’ drinking behavior. Behavior Therapy, 1(4), 437-444. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(70)80069-7

Rachman Stopped Sleeping in

You know the feeling…

You wake up to the alarm blaring, and you smash the snooze button.

Five minutes later, again the alarm, and again you hit the snooze button.

Sound a little too familiar?

For many people, waking up in the morning is difficult. For Rachman… it’s extremely difficult. Watch his video below where he talks about how he currently wakes up, and how he’s using Pavlok to change his bad habit.

[Transcript]

What’s up? This is Rachman Blake. I’m using Pavlok – oh yeah, right here – to break two bad habits that have been plaguing me for some time. So a little backstory, I am not much of a morning person, I can’t wake up really early. But, when I do wake up early, I’m extremely affected. What ends up happening is what you see right now. I stay up way too late and I start to get bags under my eyes because I don’t sleep enough.

One thing I wanna do is wake up at 7 o’clock. Every time I try to do that, I’ll just hit the snooze button on my iPhone and then go back to sleep. I’ve done a few things in the past. This is actually very funny – I’ve tried to create a micro habit of just getting out of the bed by 7AM. So to start it off, by just 7 o’clock I would just literally roll out of bed onto the floor. But then I just start sleeping on the floor uncomfortably for another 2 hours and then I would wake up with a —- ache in my back and have a —— day. So that’s it.

The second thing that I did was: I wake up and I would go to the bathroom but I didn’t have the need to pee, I just had to be out of the bed. So I’d wake up and then walk to the bathroom and then just sit on the toilet and then fall asleep. And then wake up like 2 hours later, you know, angry, my roommates were pissed off because I was in there and they thought I was masturbating or something like that.

Then Maneesh [Founder of Pavlok] recommended that instead of hitting the snooze button or doing any of this other weird stuff, that I just hit the Pavlok, which will shock me. And basically, that helps wake me up, one. And then two, it creates a negative association with hitting the snooze button, meaning like it’s; “The snooze button never ——- works anyway” That’s why they call it the snooze button, so you could snooze more. It’s not like get-out-of-bed button. Why would you put the snooze button in an alarm clock when it’s alarm clock it’s supposed to wake you up? Like snooze more! That doesn’t make any sense.

If you set the alarm clock to wake up, why would you hit a snooze button to sleep? It should be called the sleep-more-and-get-fired button cause that’s what’s gonna happen when you keep hitting that damn thing. Anyway, sorry, I didn’t mean to use my big voice.

Instead of hitting the sleep-more-eventually-get-fired-waste-your-life button, I hit the Pavlok, which is great because it create a negative association between the cue. The cue which is waking up – No, the cue is the – I need more sleep. Okay.

The cue…. —- Cue’s button in the routine is the “prooo”. No that’s the cue. You guys figure that out.

Anyway, so I do that, right? And it creates a negative association between hitting the snooze-get-fired button and negative association. So, I hit the cue button- the snooze button and I equate that with getting a shock. So if I’m still in bed, instead of hitting the snooze button when I hear my alarm go off, I keep hitting the Pavlok. And that was enough to just jolt me awake. Once I’m awake, I’m awake – I’m good.

Breaking the bad habit of oversleeping by instead of hitting the snooze-get-fired button, I instead hit the Pavlok, which creates a negative association from hitting the snooze button, which equates to more money. Somewhere down that line. Alright.

Nagina Stopped Biting Her Nails

Nagina tried unsuccessfully for years to stop biting her nails.

In just two days, Pavlok helped her stop.

Watch her testimonial video, or read the transcript below.

[Transcript]
Hi, my name is Nagina and I am from New Jersey. I have had a problem with biting my nails, my entire life. I have tried everything to stop. I have bough that nail polish that tastes disgusting and you put it on and you bite it, it didn’t work. I have tried getting artificial nails and I bit them off. I was not finding the solution. So, I decided to try Pavlok and see if that would help me.

What I did is, I wore it for 2 days so far, and I shock myself every time I bite my nails. The minute I bit my nails, I shock myself. Within 2 days, I have already noticed that I am so much more aware of myself biting my nails, where there used to be very subconscious. Now, I am very aware, and I catch myself before I do it.

So, I am really looking forward to continue to wear a Pavlok and seeing my nails grow so that I can, you know, have normal hands and not feel embarrassed every time I am somewhere in public.

Zaps help overcome cravings and prevent relapse

Why are habits — even the smallest ones — so incredibly tough to break? Why is it a constant uphill struggle?

People tell you to “shrug off the craving… say no… wait it out”. And sometimes you do manage. Through hard work, determination and lots of self-sacrifice, you finally break free of a habit that has been plaguing you for as long as you care to remember.

You’re sure you will never look back.

You’re positive you’ll never relapse.

But then, something happens.

It could be something major like a loss or breakup; or something really small like a bad day at work aggravated by a busted tire.

And suddenly, your cravings are back, stronger than ever.

You think, “I have this under control. One little slip won’t bring it back”.

But before you know it, your habit has caught up with you again, more aggressively than ever before.

It happens more often than we’d like to think.

It happens because we’re human, and because habits prey on our greatest weaknesses.

Habits are like a virus — they use our own body and mind against us.

And there’s no escape unless you bring out the heavy artillery.

Lab test: Electric jolts overcome cravings in rats in just 7 sessions

In a study (Lovibond, 1963) from the University of Adelaide, Australia, researchers wanted to test the effect of aversion conditioning on craving in rats.

First, they tested how long it took rats to run the length of a box towards an item they had been made to crave. During this phase, each of the rats would take less than 3 seconds to complete the task.

For the conditioning phase, the researchers split up the rats into four groups, assigning each group a different variation of aversion treatment.

Each rat was once again placed into the box, but this time given a harmless electric jolt upon touching the target object.

The goal was to condition the rats to overcome their impulses and stay away from the objects they craved.

Within just 7 sessions, some rats were completely avoiding the target object, even though they had previously craved it.

What’s more, it only took an average of 13 sessions to condition 50% of the rats to stay completely clear of the target object.

Conditioning through electric jolts works for people too!

The study mentioned above deals with how harmless electric jolts can condition rats to stay away from an object they previously craved.

Before conditioning, these rats would race towards the desired object in less than 3 seconds. After the conditioning process, they would stay in the box for up to 2 minutes without approaching the target object.

Aversion conditioning works. The great news is that it has been proven to work for people too.

It can effectively help people break habits, overcome cravings and regain control over compulsive behavior.

In fact, there are many studies proving the effectiveness of these little jolts in overcoming compulsive behavior, as well as persistent habits such as nail biting, smoking, alcoholism, overeating, and gambling.

References

Lovibond, S. (1963, 12). Intermittent reinforcement in behaviour therapy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1(2-4), 127-132. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(63)90015-9

Boost Your Productivity

Consider the time it takes you to complete an assignment for school or work.

Now, think of the time it takes to convince yourself to start the task, and how often you might take breaks during the project by opening a new tab or grabbing a snack. The pen-to-paper contact time can pale in comparison to how much time you spend delaying the work.

A study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 20% of the U.S. population suffers from “chronic procrastination”. And while this group is often written off as lazy or careless, a researcher from the study says that “it is not a time management issue — it is a maladaptive lifestyle.”

Procrastination doesn’t really provide anything helpful. In the moment, it can feel like you’re doing yourself a favor by putting off a responsibility. But by periodically choosing to avoid an assignment, you’re inflating your perception of the effort it will require. By the time you actually finish, it can feel like you were working all day just by delaying, confirming your idea of how difficult the task was.

In hindsight, you might be able to tell yourself, “That wasn’t so bad! I could have saved a lot of stress if I had just started sooner!”. But when the next project comes around, you find yourself staring at the deadline-bulldozer as it approaches from the horizon. And you stare, and stare, and stare … until the threat of a failing grade or job termination forces you to begin.

What do We Gain by Procrastinating?

Your brain is, by biological design, a great learner — it is very efficient at associating different behaviors with punishment or reward. And as the delay between the behavior and reward grows, it becomes harder for your brain to affirm that connection.

Imagine two dogs learning “sit”. One dog receives a treat immediately after sitting upon command. The other dog gets his treat an hour later.

Procrastination is instant gratification. When you ask yourself, “Should I start that project, or should I watch TV for a while?”, you are are choosing the immediate treat by indulging in television. On the other hand, by beginning the project, you’re investing in a treat later on.

But your brain is all about strong connections, so it builds the false sense that you are gaining something each time you decide to procrastinate.

All Treats are Not Created Equal

Compare the actual reward you get from mindlessly browsing the internet for hours to the reward of accomplishing a task. There are countless fun websites out there that can serve as a pleasant distraction indefinitely — but you can’t fully enjoy that distraction with the deadline looming over your head.

Whereas if you could focus on completing your work without dawdling, you get a tangible reward of value, and you have legitimate free-time afterward to do whatever you want!

Technological developments can put a speedbump in this process. Being expected to work on a computer with internet access is like trying to stay on a long and monotonous highway with exits available every ten feet, each one promising you instant gratification.

Computers are meant to help us save time with word processors and innumerable amounts of information at our fingertips, but this limitless access can also help you shoot yourself in the foot.

Use Technology for What It was Meant to Do

We could all abandon our electronic devices and isolate ourselves in random forests to maximize productivity, but that would be denying an enormous resource. The key is getting your brain to understand when browsing the internet is an interesting and engaging activity, rather than a route to distraction.

RescueTime is software that helps you manage your time across devices — it tracks how long you spend working and compares it to time spent on other websites, and uses that info to give you feedback on how to improve your productivity. It gives you the option of blocking websites of distraction for certain intervals of time to keep you on track.

And now, you can integrate RescueTime’s features with Pavlok’s shock device, a one button wristband that delivers a short and safe shock at an intensity level of your choice. So, if your productivity starts going down, Pavlok will let you know — first by beeping, then with vibrating, and then a shock. The goal is to get back to the task as soon as you notice yourself getting distracted.

You can also use Pavlok’s browser app to temporarily block certain websites and limit the number of tabs you can have open to maximize your efficiency as long as you have work left to do.

You already know that procrastination isn’t worth it, and that facing your work in advance will save you time (and worrying) in the long run. Technology should be used as a tool, not a distraction, and Pavlok can help you stay on track.

And if you’re still stuck in the instant gratification loop, just let us know! We can provide personal feedback to help you get over your bad habit.

Everyone is a procrastinator, but not everyone procrastinates. Pavlok can save you time by getting you out of the routine once and for all.

Simon Quit Smoking In 1 Week

Simon smoked a half-pack of cigarettes every day for five years.

“I used to run for both pleasure and exercise. I would run half marathons, and it was very meditative for me. But when I started smoking cigarettes, my cardio really suffered”

He had tried quitting numerous times without success – until he discovered Pavlok.

“It’s empowering when you know you can tackle something as tough as cigarette smoking, it puts other difficult things into perspective. My family has a history of lung cancer, and I really felt ashamed that I was addicted to cigarettes. Using Pavlok took me from ‘it would be nice to quit’ to ‘I need to quit’ – and I did”.

Like many smokers, part of Simon’s habit was tied to ritual. “I would always have a cigarette after breakfast, and I would always have a cigarette at the end of the day after work, so those are the times I wanted to target first”.

He started by shocking himself at the same time he would be craving his morning cigarette. After two days, he progressed to shocking himself whenever he wanted a cigarette in the evening.

Over the course of one week Simon reduced his smoking habit by a few cigarettes each day, and after seven days he was no longer smoking cigarettes at all.

How Simon Saved Thousands of Dollars Per Year

Once Simon quit smoking and gained control of his cravings, he immediately began to notice an improvement in his health and relationships.

He started running again
His relationships with friends improved, because he was no longer irritable due to his cravings
He stopped wasting thousands of dollars a year on smoking
He felt a powerful sense of satisfaction

While Simon’s desire to smoke cigarettes was gone within days, his cravings for nicotine were still a challenge to overcome. In the weeks after he quit smoking completely, Pavlok continued to help Simon. “Pavlok helped train my brain to speak a little bit louder as I fought these cravings” said Simon, referring to his practice of shocking himself whenever he had a nicotine craving. “Recognizing the difference between the mental and physical aspects of the habit helped me feel more in control.”

Simon’s Advice For Others Hoping to Quit Using Pavlok

“To really want to quit is a fine line of being honest with yourself. Breaking through that veil is really crucial, because it is so easy to continue to rationalize. Once you’ve broken it, you look back and realize it was all shrouded by the dependency. For me it was just a little shock in my arm that helped to wake me up and really blow the smoke away from my cigarette habit”.

When asked if he thought the shock from Pavlok hurt, Simon really put things in perspective: “It doesn’t hurt, but it’s uncomfortable. But when you’re face-to-face with something that is important to you like quitting cigarettes, it totally outweighs the discomfort. If you can trade a little bit of discomfort for something that you know is killing you, that’s not a bad trade-off at all”.