Reprinted from: Democracy and the Rule of Law Times | 2019-7-14

Up to now, the national judicial administrative system has 31 advantage rehabilitation projects and 8 new technologies and methods that have been replicated and promoted throughout the country. Some new technologies and methods such as virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction, transcranial magnetic therapy, etc. have been explored and applied to the field of drug rehabilitation, and have become an important force to help scientific rehabilitation.

Physical drug addiction is easy to quit, but psychological drug addiction is difficult to get rid of.

Many drug rehabilitation personnel live in a non-toxic environment in drug rehabilitation centers. Through a period of withdrawal treatment, they can temporarily put the matter of drug abuse behind them. But once you leave the drug rehabilitation center, return to a familiar high-risk environment, and then come into contact with drugs, your addiction and cravings can easily be aroused, which eventually leads to relapse behavior.

Detoxification is a worldwide problem. How to enable drug rehabilitation personnel to go from passive physical detoxification to active psychological rejection of drugs, and truly help drug rehabilitation personnel quit drug addiction and get rid of mental addiction, is particularly important.

According to the "Development Report on Drug Rehabilitation Work in China's Judicial Administration" released by the Ministry of Justice, there are currently 284 pilot sites in China that have implemented a unified drug rehabilitation model. Some new technologies and methods such as virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction, transcranial magnetic therapy, etc. have been explored and applied to the field of drug rehabilitation, which have played an active role in increasing the withdrawal rate and reducing the relapse rate.

On the eve of the 32nd “June 26” International Anti-drug day, reporters walked into some mandatory isolation drug rehabilitation centers in Yunnan Province to visit the real drug rehabilitation work.

Virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction system

Liu Jun, a 42-year-old drug rehabilitation officer, has a 25-year history of drug abuse and has had five experiences of forced isolation and drug rehabilitation. At this moment, he is wearing VR glasses on his head and is undergoing mixed reality (MR) drug rejection training in Yunnan Province's No. 1 Compulsory Isolation and Drug rehabilitation Center.

Through VR glasses, Liu Jun saw the KTV private room he was familiar with, and he shook his body from time to time to the rhythm of the music. A drug rehabilitation officer waiting for treatment next to him picked up the simulated “curling bottle” from the table and handed it to him. Liu Jun took it without looking at it and skillfully assembled the poison and simulated drug abuse. Everything is a real feeling of drug abuse.

The computer not far away shows the scene in Liu Jun's field of vision at the moment. One of his eyes can be seen in the upper left corner of the computer. As the scene changes, this eye opens and closes from time to time, and the pupils dilate or shrink. During the same period of time, physiological indicators such as his heart rate, the length of gaze at each stage, and the length of time he closed his eyes were all recorded by the computer. These data can provide Liu Jun's drug rehabilitation clues, drug craving and other information, so as to help the police in the psychological correction center formulate a targeted drug rehabilitation plan for him.

Here, just as Liu Jun was enjoying a short period of joy, everything in his vision suddenly changed, and a scene of disgust appeared. A drug addict was topless, with maggots crawling on the festering skin of his left arm, and the camera was constantly zoomed in close-ups. Subsequently, the ugly picture of the festering body after taking drugs continued to appear in front of his eyes.

After the training, the police of the institute's Psychological correction center explained to reporters: “We use VR technology to combine virtual and reality. The first is to restore the real drug abuse scene to stimulate and induce the psychological cravings of drug rehabilitation personnel, open up their psychology, and expose problems. Then, aversion therapy, desensitization therapy, regression therapy, etc. were used to intervene to gradually reduce the dependence and craving of drug rehabilitation personnel for drugs, and help them gradually quit their addiction. ”

It is understood that the virtual reality drug addiction assessment and correction system uses virtual reality technology (VR) to construct a VR model of methamphetamine-related smoking cues, uses emotional response-sensitive heart rate variability index (HRV) for objective physiological data collection, and uses supervised learning algorithms to establish an objective evaluation method of methamphetamine cue-induced craving.

The results of clinical testing and research have shown that the system can accurately distinguish between methamphetamine addicts and different levels of drug craving, and the efficacy is accurate.

And these are just part of the new techniques and methods of detoxification. Virtual reality (VR) technology, mixed reality (MR) technology, drug testing room that combines virtual and reality, biofeedback treatment room... These educational rehabilitation projects widely use the scientific concepts of psychology, pedagogy, medicine, kinesiology, and mindfulness, Vipassana, VR, and economics.Advanced technologies such as cranial magnetism have promoted the continuous improvement of the quality of rehabilitation.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation detoxification technology

Since May last year, 39 drug rehabilitation personnel have voluntarily received treatment from the transcranial magnetic Drug rehabilitation treatment project of the Third Compulsory Isolation Drug Rehabilitation Center in Yunnan Province.

The Third Compulsory isolation Drug rehabilitation Center in Yunnan Province also opened up a special treatment function room with computer equipment, which is specially used for transcranial magnetic drug rehabilitation treatment to provide a solid material guarantee for the smooth implementation of the transcranial magnetic drug rehabilitation treatment project.

“The project is mainly aimed at people who are addicted to synthetic drugs (ATS) and are treated by electric shock intervention every few seconds. "Zhan Qingqing, a doctor here, told reporters that through the use of this technology for treatment, it has effectively alleviated the mental symptoms of mania, headache, anxiety, insomnia and other mental symptoms of drug rehabilitation personnel, and has received better results.

It is understood that transcranial magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive, green and safe means of regulating brain function. It is based on the principle of electromagnetic induction to induce a weak current in the cerebral cortex to affect and change brain function. It can not only reduce the cravings of drug rehabilitation personnel, improve sleep, regulate emotions, but also to a certain extent.Improve awareness.

In order to more effectively help ATS drug rehabilitation personnel quit drug addiction, the transcranial magnetic stimulation drug rehabilitation technology of the Third Compulsory Isolation Drug Rehabilitation Center in Yunnan Province has been continuously developed to a mature stage under the cooperation of the Doctors of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Su Hang, Chen Naiye, and the technical staff of the Provincial Institute of Drug Dependence and the technical backbone of the hospital.

It is worth mentioning that drug rehabilitation personnel need to undergo screening and cognitive tests for the treatment of this project, and sign the questionnaire for confirmation.

According to Zhan Qingqing, starting from June 26 this year, the institute will elaborate on the safety of transcranial magnetic therapy programs for newly admitted ATS drug rehabilitation personnel who voluntarily participate in treatment. After eliminating the doubts of drug rehabilitation personnel, preliminary screenings of drug rehabilitation personnel who voluntarily participate in treatment will be conducted through questionnaires to learn more.The degree of abuse of new types of drugs by drug rehabilitation personnel. After preliminary screening, drug rehabilitation personnel who meet the treatment conditions are subject to the next stage of cognitive testing. The testing is mainly carried out by playing games through professional procedures. After the test, they enter the EEG test, which is mainly used to assess the EEG activity of drug rehabilitation personnel before treatment. The two stages of the test are over.After that, he entered transcranial magnetic therapy. After the treatment is over, cognitive tests and EEG tests are performed, and a comparison is formed with the pre-treatment to form a more specific data analysis of the treatment situation.

Exercise detoxification intervention in Drug addiction

On June 24th, at the rehabilitation training center of the No. 1 compulsory Isolation Drug rehabilitation Center in Yunnan Province, Xu Liang, a 33-year-old drug rehabilitation officer, was undergoing arm strength training.

The rehabilitation center covers an area of 1,300 square meters and can accommodate hundreds of drug rehabilitation personnel for strength training, sensitivity training and flexibility training at the same time. The rehabilitation center is divided into an athletic ability assessment area and a daily training control area. The athletic ability assessment area has cardiopulmonary function tester, human body composition analyzer, resistance training tester for large muscle groups, etc., And the fitness equipment such as spinning bikes, treadmills, space walkers, sit-ups, comprehensive strength combination machines, paddle machines, etc. in the daily training control area are readily available.

Xu Liang introduced to reporters the complete process of his movement here. Drug rehabilitation personnel must first stand in front of the screen, perform face recognition to sign in, then receive a smart bracelet, the system automatically matches the exercise prescription, and then the drug rehabilitation personnel follow the instructions to the designated area to complete the exercise detoxification course.

While Xu Liang was exercising, his basic personal information and physical information were displayed on the screen of the rehabilitation center. The smart bracelet he wears monitors the length and intensity of the course training in real time, and uploads it in real time.

Xu Liang told reporters that now he has to train for up to two hours a week. When he first came to a provincial school, his physical condition was very bad, and he often felt irritable and weak in his limbs. After more than a year of exercise, he feels much better than before.

Yang Yang, a civilian police officer in the rehabilitation center, told reporters that the center has introduced a smart sports drug rehabilitation management platform around the two main lines of smart drug rehabilitation and sports drug rehabilitation. The platform is characterized by the harmonious integration of people, machines, and technology, and connects test equipment, training equipment, and management platforms with intelligent things. Through a comprehensive assessment, comprehensively analyze the age characteristics, medical diagnosis results, and physical fitness test results of drug rehabilitation personnel, issue and adjust exercise prescriptions, and give professional and scientific exercise and rehabilitation recommendations.

“Exercise can increase dopamine concentration or change the expression of dopamine binding protein. Through exercise, a functional neural adaptation can be produced, which may control drug addiction. "Yang Yang said.

It is understood that sports detoxification projects include sports detoxification rehabilitation exercises, sports detoxification yoga projects, sports detoxification equipment training and other forms.

Since last year, the national judicial administrative drug rehabilitation system has explored the effectiveness of high-intensity exercise training in reducing drug cravings. In order to further improve the quality of drug rehabilitation, the Ministry of Justice has piloted exercise and drug rehabilitation in drug rehabilitation sites across the country. At present, there are 24 drug rehabilitation sites in 11 provinces that have carried out pilot work. Yunnan, the hardest-hit area by drugs, is one of the pilot provinces.

(The drug rehabilitation personnel in this article are all aliases)