biological therapies

• typical antipsychotic drugs

  positive symptoms, products of overactive dopamine system, typical antipsychotic drugs work directly on reducing effects of dopamine - achieve by binding to dopamine receptors (D2) but not stimulating them so blocking their action - reduces dopamine's influence on thought, emotion and behaviour and it's found positive symptoms are reduced - hallucinations and delusions usually diminish within a few days of medication, other symptoms may take several weeks before improvement is seen
• atypical antipsychotic drugs (e.g. clozapine)

  aim of more effectively treating positive and negative symptoms - only temporarily block dopamine receptors before dissociating allowing normal dopamine transmission - has major impact on serotonin - known as second generation antipsychotics, claim to be different to old typical antipsychotics in 3 main ways: lower risk of extreme side effects, beneficial effect of negative symptoms (and positive) and suitable for treatment-resistant patients
• DRUG THERAPY EVALUATION - placebo research

  Thornley reviewed studies comparing effects of chlorpromazine to control groups in which patients received a placebo - found chlorpromazine was associated with reduced symptom severity and reduced relapse rates - suggests typical antipsychotics medically effective at preventing relapse
• DRUG THERAPY EVALUATION - typical less appropriate treatments

  worrying side effects - e.g. 30% of people taking this medication develop tardive dyskinesia which causes patient to suffer uncontrollable, repetitive movements like shaking, muscle spasms and lip smacking - may be inappropriate if costs of taking drug outweigh benefits
• DRUG THERAPY EVALUATION - side effects can lead to problems with patient compliance

  argued that on average 50% of schizophrenic patients stop taking medication after a year and 75% after 2 years - causes revolving door syndrome where the patient is reluctant to take medication and regularly relapses before being admitted to care, treated then avoiding taking them - raises doubt over how appropriate antipsychotic treatments are if they rarely lead to a long term adn stable recovery
• DRUG THERAPY EVALUATION - atypical lower rate of tardive dyskinesia


  tardive dyskinesia for atypical antipsychotics only 5% - suggests atypical may be more appropriate than conventional as they have fewer side effects so patients are more likely to take medication and see more benefits