Influence of verbal recall of a recent stress experience on anxiety and desire for cocaine in non-treatment seeking, cocaine-addicted volunteers

It has long been postulated that stress increases the risk of drug abuse and relapse. The principal goal of this project was to evaluate the effects of verbal recall of a recent stress experience (specifically meaningful to each individual) on physiological and subjective measures in cocaine-addicted participants. Subjects described a recent stressful non-drug-related experience and a neutral non-stressful experience, and then completed mood and drug effect questionnaires, while heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. Participants (N = 25) were predominantly African American and male. As a group, participants used cocaine for more than 15 years and ∼18 of the last 30 days, and a majority reported use of nicotine and/or alcohol. All participants were evaluated during a time in which they tested positive for cocaine metabolite. On a scale of 110, participants reported their verbal recall of a recent stress event as highly stressful and their verbal recall of a recent neutral event as non-stressful (p < 0.0001). The self-reported vividness of this recall was high (>8 out of 10) for both the stress and neutral events. Heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ after verbal recall of either stress or neutral events. Similarly, self-reported subjective effects (including ratings of anxiety and craving for cocaine) did not differ after verbal recall of either stress or neutral events. In summary, despite the fact that participants recounted highly stressful and vivid memories, this experience did not elicit significant changes in cardiovascular or subjective effects. These data suggest that simply recalling a stressful event may not be a sufficient enough stimulus to contribute to craving or relapse in cocaine-addicted individuals.