The Biological Approach to Treating OCD A03

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Created by
Anna

Cards (6)

  • Evaluation of The Biological Approach to Treating OCD A03
    +Evidence supporting drug therapy (SSRIs) (Soomro et al 2009)
    +Drugs are cost-effective & non-disruptive
    -Side Effects
    -Evidence for drug treatment is unreliable (Goldarce 2013)
    -OCD also follows trauma
  • Evidence supporting drug therapy(SSRIs) - BAtTOCD A03

    P: Evidence for effectiveness of SSRIs in reducing severity of OCD symptoms = improving quality of life for patients
    E: Soomro et al (2009) reviewed 17 studies comparing SSRIs to placebos: concluded all studies showed significantly better results for SSRIs vs placebo conditions. Found effectiveness greater when SSRIs combined with psychological treatment usually CBT.
    L: With SSRI's, typically 70% of patients taking SSRI's show improvement in symptoms. Rest help by alternative drugs or CBT+drugs - so drugs help most patients with OCD.
  • Drugs are cost-effective & non-disruptive - BAtTOCD A03

    P: An advantage of drug treatments in general is that they are cheap and non disruptive (cost effective) vs psychological treatments.
    E: Using drugs to treat OCD is good value for the NHS. SSRIs are non disruptive to a patients life - you can take drugs until symptoms decline and not engage in psychotherapy which is is cognitively demanding & hard work
    L: Many doctors and patients like drugs for this reason.
  • Side Effects - BAtTOCD A03
    P: Although drugs like SSRIs help most people a small minority will get no benefit. Some patients also suffer side-effects like indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive (although these side-effects are usually temporary)
    E: For those Clomipramine side effects are more common and can be serious - more than 1 in 10 patients suffer erection problems, weight gain, 1 in 100 become aggressive and suffer disruption to blood pressure and heart beat rhythm
    L: Such factors reduce effectiveness because people then stop taking the medication
  • Evidence for drug treatment is unreliable - BAtTOCE A03
    P: Although SSRIs fairly effective & side-effects probably be short term like all drug treatments, SSRIs have controversy attached
    E: E.G. some believe evidence favouring drug treatments is biased because it is sponsored by drug companies who do not report all evidence (Goldarce 2013)
    L: Such companies may try to suppress evidence that does not support the effectiveness of certain drugs to maximise their economic gain. This duggests we are unable to completely support the usefulness of drugs due to it being bias with reduced validity.
  • OCD follows trauma - BAtTOCD A03

    P: OCD is widely believe to be biological in origin (reductionist approach). It makes sense therefore that the standard treatment should be biological
    E: However, it is acknowledged that OCD can have a range of other causes, and that in some cases it is a response to traumatic life events.
    L: It may not be appropriate to use drugs when treating cases that follow a trauma when psychological therapies may provide the best option