Drug Therapy

• it is thought that schizophrenia produce too much dopamine or have more dopamine receptors than non-schizophrenics. it's not possible to decrease the amount of dopamine or reduce the number or receptors so the next best thing is to block the receptors
• Typical antipsychotics, like chlorpromazine, were developed in the 1950s with the aim to reduce the effects of dopamine to eliminate the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. however, they can also block other D2 receptor sites in the brain other than the mesolimbic pathway which can cause a problem with movement
• atypical antipsychotics, like clozapine, were developed in the 1970s to minimise the side effects of other antipsychotics by rapidly blocking D2 receptor sites which lowers the risk of movement problems. however, they only have a beneficial effect on negative symptoms and cognitive impairment.
• drug treatments have been nicknamed 'chemical straitjackets' or 'chemical lobotomies'. this means that rather than having therapeutic value and curing symptoms, they reduce the patients to a calm, zombie-like state.
• drugs can be said to be dehumanising since they take away individual personal responsibility and control when they may not have consented to treatment as they may not be in the position to give consent and if they are sectioned then treatment can also be enforced
• Healy (2012) has suggested that some successful trials have had their data published multiple times, exaggerating the evidence for positive effects. he also suggests that because these drugs have calming effects it is easy to demonstrate that they have a positive effect on the patient
• Thornley et al (2003) reviewed studies comparing the effects of chlorpromazine to control conditions in which patients received a placebo so their experience was identical. data from 13 trials with a total of 1121 participants showed that the drug was associated with better overall functioning and reduced symptoms severity. in three trials with 512 participants the relapse rate was lower when chlorpromazine was taken
• Meltzer (2012) found that clozapine is more effective than typical antipsychotics and other atypical antipsychotics