Biological treatments of OCD

• The biological approach to treating OCD involves drug therapies which aim to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain.
• One type of drug is called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which are a type of antidepressant that increase the availability of serotonin in the synapse.
• SSRI’s work by preventing the reuptake of serotonin by the presynaptic neuron in the synaptic cleft, which means there is more serotonin available to the postsynaptic neuron.
• SSRI’s usually take 4 months before they start to have significant impacts on symptoms.
• (+) Drug trials against placebo Several researchers have found SSRI’s to be effective in treating OCD. E.g Thoren et al found that use of an SSRI was significantly better at reducing obsessional thoughts than a placebo.
• (+) In addition research has found that using other antidepressants that don't affect serotonin levels is inefficient at reducing OCD symptoms.
• (+) Drug therapy is non disruptive to peoples lives because they do not have to give up time to attend therapy. As a result patients are more likely to continue with their treatment and therefore see a reduction in their symptoms.
• (-) Drug therapy is not a permanent treatment for OCD, it only minimises symptoms while they take the drugs. Simpson (2004) found that 45% of cases in 12 weeks relapsed, compared to only 12% of patients who had CBT. This suggests that drug therapy does not treat OCD.
• Publication bias has been shown that positive results are more likely to be published than not, as drug companies sponsor the drug trials, they selectively publish positive outcomes for the drugs their sponsors are selling