Aversion therapy is a type of therapy used to help a person give up a behavior or habit by having them associate it with something unpleasant. It works by creating an association between a behavior and a negative experience, such as a disgusting taste or painful sensation. Aversion therapy is based on the theory of classical conditioning, which is when you unconsciously or automatically learn a behavior due to a specific stimulus. Aversion therapy uses conditioning but focuses on creating a negative response to an undesirable stimulus, such as drinking alcohol or using drugs.

Aversion therapy is believed to be helpful for people wanting to quit a behavior or habit, typically one that’s interfering with their life negatively. Some examples of behaviors that aversion therapy has been used to treat include substance use disorders, smoking, eating disorders, nail-biting, self-injurious and aggressive behaviors, and certain inappropriate sexual behaviors.

Aversion therapy can be done in different ways, such as using electrical or chemical stimuli, or imagined aversive situations. For example, in the electrical therapy, the patient is given a lightly painful shock whenever the undesirable behavior is displayed. In the chemical therapy, the patient is given a drug that produces unpleasant effects, such as nausea, when combined with the undesirable behavior.

However, there are doubts about the long-term effectiveness of aversion therapy, and it is often much less effective in the outside world, where no nausea-inducing drug has been taken, and it is obvious that no shocks will be given. Also, relapse rates are very high, and the success of the therapy depends on whether the patient can avoid the stimulus they have been conditioned against.

In summary, aversion therapy is a type of therapy that uses negative stimuli to help a person give up a behavior or habit. It is based on the theory of classical conditioning and has been used to treat various behaviors, such as substance use disorders and nail-biting. However, its long-term effectiveness is still being debated.