31/08/2026
International Overdose Awareness Day on 31 August highlights the global scale of drug use and the persistent gap in access to treatment.
In 2024, 331 million people worldwide used drugs—a 34% increase compared with 2014. Yet only 1 in 12 people living with drug use disorders received treatment.
Addiction is a multidimensional health condition that may affect not only behavior, but also sleep, mood, stress response and autonomic balance.
In a randomized controlled study involving 114 men with alcohol dependence, the active taVNS group showed better sleep-quality scores and lower depressive-symptom scores than the control group after four weeks.
Research into the potential role of tVNS in addiction-related conditions is ongoing.
Sources: UNODC World Drug Report 2026; Wang et al., 2021, Frontiers in Psychiatry.