First case report of tDCS efficacy in severe chemsex addiction

摘要

Chemsex is an escalating public health issue among men who have sex with men, withpotentially severe somatic and psychiatric consequences. Given the limited knowledge andlack of treatment recommendations available in this area, we proposed the use ofnoninvasive brain stimulation in order to reduce problematic chemsex behavior. This isthe first open-label case report of a positive effect of transcranial direct currentstimulation (tDCS) in a patient who was complaining of severe chemsex addiction. Totaldisappearance of chemsex behavior occurred after 5 days of daily sessions of rightprefrontal cortex stimulation and did not return after 8 months of follow-up. Thestrengthening of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity may have modulated limbicpathways and reduced incentive salience and craving of both sexual addiction andconcomitant illicit drug use.