Neuroscience Based Medications Offer Hope in Addiction Crisis, Says NYC Doctor
'Neuroscience—Based Medications offer hope in Addiction Crisis'— Eileen DiFrancesco MD
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 8, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / -- Breakthrough Approach to Addiction Treatment Targets Underlying Neural Circuitry Disrupted by Substance Use Disorders
Dr. Eileen DiFrancesco , a board certified psychiatrist and expert in psychopharmacology is calling for a paradigm shift and how addiction is treated in the United States. Drawing on over two decades of clinical experience and emerging neuroscientific evidence, Dr. DiFrancesco advocates for the immediate integration of new medications that act on the brain core regulatory systems – specifically those impaired in addiction.
These are not traditional addiction, medication, says Dr. DiFrancesco they are part of the new generation of treatments designed to restore function to brain regions disrupted by chronic substance use – including those responsible for impulse control, motivation, and decision-making.
Her call comes at a critical moment. According to the most recent national survey, over 48 million Americans suffered from a substance used disorder in the past year. Alcohol alone is linked to an estimate estimated 178,000 deaths annually in the U.S., Representing more than 4 million years of potential life lost
Brain Imaging studies by leading scientists have consistently shown that individuals with addiction exhibit profound changes in the prefrontal cortex and related neural circuits that regulate reward, impulse control, and emotional processing. Dr. DiFrancesco argues that the most promising treatments are those that directly target these biological deficits – not just the symptoms of addiction
We've reached a tipping point where we can no longer afford to separate addiction from the brain science that explains it, she states this is not about willpower or moral failure. It's about using medications that help normalize the very brain systems that have been hijacked.
Dr. DiFrancesco's public appeal follows the release of her educational video, where she explained how modern neuroscience is reshaping our understanding of addiction – and how under utilize treatments may offer new hope to patients and families alike.
About Dr. Eileen DiFrancesco
Dr. DiFrancesco is a board certified psychiatrist with over 25 years of experience practicing in New York City. She is a recognized leader in psychiatry and psychopharmacology. Before entering private practice, she held triple title at New York Hospital, Cornell and Rockefeller university in the laboratory for biology of addictive diseases. She studied early onset schizophrenia using pet scans, positive emission tomography with Richard M. Pico at Mount Sinai. In addition She spent from almost a decade working with E. Roy. John, who developed quantitative electroencephalography, QEEG also known as brain mapping.
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