bio therapies

• drug therapies are based on the assumption that chemical imbalances are the main cause of the problem. The aim is to restore bio imbalances
• anti-depressants eg. Prozac

  • SSRIS prevents seretonin reuptake meaning the serotonin stays in the synapse for longer and bind to receptor sites
  • on the post synaptic neuron. This increases the levels of serotonin which normalises the brains worry circuit and reduces the obsessions associated with OCD
• anti-anxiety drugs- (bz's)

  • enhance the activity of GABA which has an overall quieting effect, slowing down the activity of the central nervous system (eg. Valium)
• One strength is there is research to support its effectiveness. For example a meta-analysis found that drug therapies had a 75% success rate for patients suffering with ocd. Furthermore Somroo et al found SSRIs to be more effective than placebos in reducing symptoms This shows it is a well-supported therapy for reducing OCD symptoms (o+c) and is effective in helping the majority of patients recover/reduce obsessions/compulsions . therefore it can signfificantly improve their quality of life.

  + however it doesn't work for 25% of people therefore an intercationist apporach to treating OCD may be the most effective approach (childhood trauma)
• One limitation is there is evidence of a publication bias towards studies that show a positive outcome of antidepressant treatements, thus exaggerating the benefits of these drugs

  Turner et al found that not only were more positive results more likely to be published, but the studies that were not positive were often published in a way that conveyed a pos outcome. This is an issue because the majority of reserach into drugs is funded by pharmecuetical companies who have a strong interest in the continuing success of these durg therapies. This means doctors may not always be correctly informed about the true benefits or draebacks of these drugs which can lead them to make inappropriate treatment decisions thatg may not always the in the best interest of their patient
• One limitation is that there is little evidence for its long term effectiveness as it is treating the symptoms not the underlying cause. Research (maina ) found that most patients relapse within a few weeks when the medication is stopped. WHich suggests drug therapies may not improve a patients quality of life for the longer term. This could be because reducing ocd to just biological causes, treating it with only bio therapies could be overlooking other possible causes like trauma . Coran suggested although drug therapy may be more commonly used , psychotherapies such as CBT should be tried first