Citation

Benjamin S, Seek A, Tresise L, Price E, Gagnon M. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 1995; 34(2): 238-242.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/00004583-199502000-00020

PMID

7896657

Abstract

Opioid receptor antagonists have been studied in the management of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in developmentally disabled individuals. The authors present a case of a severely retarded, autistic man whose SIB increased dramatically during a trial of naltrexone. A paradoxical increase in SIB, attributed to the extinction burst phenomenon during the initial period of nonreward, is known to occur during treatment with naloxone, a short-acting parenteral opioid antagonist. It has only once been reported during treatment with naltrexone, a long-acting orally administered agent. Opioid analgesic effects and learning theory can explain both increases and decreases in SIB after opioid blockade.

Language: en