Under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Professor Dr. Sarmed H. Kathem Alkhateeb, the Continuing education Unit at the University of Baghdad/College of Pharmacy, held an in-person workshop entitled “The Potent Effect of Environmental Context on Relapse of Drug Addiction: A Psychological Perspective” delivered by Assistant lecturer Dhulfiqar Nidhal, a faculty member at the Clinical pharmacy Department. The scientific workshop aimed to clarify how the surrounding environment affects addicts’ responses, and discuss the psychological and neurological mechanisms that make relapse into addiction common when exposed to certain environmental stimuli. The scientific workshop included several topics, including understanding relapse and its causes, and a case study on heroin addiction among American soldiers in Vietnam, and subsequent psychological and neurological studies to clarify how environmental stimuli affect neural and psychological mechanisms and their association with relapse. The scientific workshop concluded that relapse occurs as a result of a complex interaction between psychological, neurological, and environmental factors, as environmental stimuli activate addiction responses stored in the brain. Changing the environment can reduce relapse rates. Behavioral therapies also play a major role in reprogramming the brain and reducing the impact of stimuli. Therefore, strategies such as cognitive therapy and training to adapt to stimuli are essential to achieve sustainable recovery.
