Treating OCD - Biological approach

• For many patients drugs remain an easy and accessible means of dealing with their obsessions and compulsions

  • Drug therapy is currently the most used treatment for OCD
• Drug therapy - Treatment involving drugs

  • i.e chemicals that have a particular effect on the functioning of the brain or some other body system
  • In the case of psychological disorders such drugs usually affect neurotransmitter levels
• Low levels of serotonin are associated with OCD

  • Therefore drugs to treat OCD work in various ways to increase the level of serotonin in the brain
• SSRIs:

  The standard medical treatment used to tackle the symptoms of OCD involves a particular type of antidepressant drug called a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
• How SSRIs work:

  Brain sends an impulse → arrives at synapse → serotonin needed to move it across the synaptic gap → so serotonin is released → attempts to be reabsorbed by presynaptic cell → BUT SSRIs stop reabsorption → serotonin starts to increase as it is not being broken down or reabsorbed
• Serotonin system:

  Serotonin is released by the presynaptic neurons and travels across a synapse. The neurotransmitter chemically conveys the signal from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron and then it is reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused

  • By preventing the reabsorption and breakdown, SSRIs effectively increase levels of serotonin in the synapse and thus continue to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron
• Neurotransmitters - Transmit messages across the synapse
• Alternatives to SSRIs

  Antidepressant: Tricyclics

  • Block the transporter mechanism that reabsorbs both serotonin and noradrenaline into the presynaptic cell after it has fired
  • As a result, more of these neurotransmitters are left in the synapse, prolonging their activity, and easing transmission of the next impulse
• Advantage of Tricyclics:

  • Target more than one neurotransmitter
• Disadvantage of Tricyclics:

  • Greater side effects than SSRIs