Margaret Wardle, PhD

Dr. Margaret Wardle is especially interested in how emotions affect drug use, because when people describe why they use drugs, moods and emotions almost always come up. Dr. Wardle's lab, they examine the short-term effects of drugs on emotions by testing how small doses of drugs given in the laboratory change people’s feelings. Dr. Wardle also researches long-term problems with emotions and mood that occur in addiction, and test treatments to help people cut down or quit. She works towards harm reduction, which means trying to reduce the negative impacts of drug use without requiring that people stop using drugs. Recently she has been investigating how positive emotions affect cocaine use. People with cocaine use disorder often report that they have few positive feelings or sources of joy outside their drug use. Dr. Wardle's research shows that when people don’t feel able to experience joy and pleasure, they use more cocaine and have more difficulty quitting. She's currently working to test several treatments, including both medications and talk therapy, that hopefully will increase experiences of joy and positivity in people with cocaine use disorder, and ultimately help them cut down or quit using cocaine.