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The following is a summary of “Evoked craving in high-dose benzodiazepine users,” published in the April 2025 issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry by Zamboni et al. 

High-dose benzodiazepines (BDZs) abuse is a distinct addiction linked to heightened cue reactivity (CR). Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising tool to study environment-induced cravings. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to implement a VR protocol assessing the link between environmental cues and craving in high-dose BDZ users.  

They investigated the correlation between BDZ craving and mood, affect, attention, presence, and cybersickness, and compared these variables across VR environments to evaluate differences between BDZ abusers and controls. 

The results showed that cues elicited craving responses in high-dose BDZ abusers, but further studies are needed to confirm this. 

Investigators found that VR was a useful tool to observe environmental craving for BDZs. They noted its realistic simulation of real-world settings. 

Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1562622/full