drug treatment

• 3 types of medication?

  • anti-depressants (sertraline)
  • anti-anxiety drugs (valium)
  • beta-blockers (propanolol)
• antidepressants?

  act on levels of serotonin at synapse, blocking its reuptake from synapse back into releasing neuron. this means more serotonin is available for a longer period. selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

  • drugs like sertraline and fluoxetine
• anti-anxiety drugs? (benzodiasepines)

  work by increasing effectiveness of GABA in regulating anxiety. GABA= amino acid that lowers physiological arousal and return body to a resting state

  • valium
• beta-blockers?

  block stress hormones that are released into blood stream by adrenal glands. allows less stress and decreased heart rate, decrease in anxiety.

  • pronanolol.
• strengths of drug treatment?

  • useful in using if someone hasn't responded to CBT
  • empirical evidence, Soomro (2007), antidepressants more effective than placebo in reducing symptoms of OCD (credible)
  • POTS (2004), CBT and drug treatment together is effective
  • ethical implications, no need for resort to neurosurgery
  • Koran (2002), anti-depressant meds did have long term effects and effective in preventing relapse over 80-week period
• weaknesses of drug treatment?

  • may cause side effects (nausea) limiting usefulness if they don't want to be taken.
  • use of medication can rarely cause an increase in anxiety
  • drug treatment on its own isn't effective enough to treat OCD
  • relapse is likely if course of medication stops.
• evidence for individual differences?

  • Brody (1998), differences in metabolism in right compared to left orbitofrontal cortex predicts whether person will respond better to drugs or CBT (sensitive to ID)
  • Ravizza (1995), SSRI's weren't effective for 40% people, showing different people respond to drugs differently