Evaluation

• P - Strength , Supporting evidence

  Soomoro analysed the results of 17 studies that compared SSRIs to placebos when treating OCD

  All 17 studies demonstrated that SSRIs showed significantly better outcomes compared to placebos

  70% of those taking SSRIs in the studies reported a reduction in symptoms

  D - Furthermore , adds validity to suggestion that OCD is caused by biology meaning that use of drug treatment has furthered our knowledge in understanding of OCD
• P - Limitation , Opposing evidence

  Skapnakis carried out a review of studies and found that cognitive and behavioural therapies ( such as CBT and exposure therapies ) were more effective than SSRIs in treating OCD

  D - However , drugs are important in initial stages of someone going to therapy as it reduces their symptoms enough for them to attend their therapy sessions
• P - Strength , SSRIs are cheap compared to psychological treatments like CBT as drugs are cheaper to large scale manufacture

  Training a therapist takes time and is costly and they can only support a handful of patients at a time

  Drugs are also not disruptive to peoples lives , they don't take up too much time whereas therapy sessions mean a time commitment for patients to attend their session

  D - Furthermore , benefits economy as people can go to work , earn money , pay tax
• P - Limitation , Some people can experience serious side effects whilst taking SSRIs Blurred vision , loss of sex drive , ingestion , 1 in 100 people report becoming aggressive

  These side effects can be distressing and long lasting for patients

  D - However , even with side effects people still take the drugs making the side effects seem redundant

  People with OCD often think about side effects of taking the drugs and compare it with life with OCD which usually makes them take the drugs to avoid the OCD symptoms