Drug therapy

• Main components

  1. Anti-psychotic drugs
  2. Anti-depressant drugs
  3. Anti-anxiety drugs
• Anti-psychotic drugs

  • Treats psychotic mental disorders - e.g. schizophrenia
  • Conventional anti-psychotic = used to combat symptoms (e.g. hallucinations) the drug blocks the neurotransmitters by binding to dopamine receptors
  • Atypical anti-psychotic drugs = act by temporarily occupying dopamine receptors then rapidly dissociating to allow normal dopamine transmission
• Anti-depressant drugs

  • Thought to be due to insufficient amounts of neurotransmitters such as serotonin being produced in the synapse.
  • To terminate the action neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the nerve endings + are broken down by an enzyme
  • anti-depressants - blocks the enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter, so more serotonin is left in the synpase. Some also reduce the rate of reabsorption
• Anti-anxiety drugs

  • used to treat anxiety and stress
  • Benzodiazepines (BZs) - slow the rate of central nervous system. They do this by enhancing the activity of GABA (a neurotransmitter that is the body's natural form of anxiety relief)
  • Betablockers - reduce the activity of adrenaline + noradrenaline - response to stress. They bind to receptors on the cells of the heart - harder to stimulate cells in this part of the body. The heart beats slower + blood vessels do not control as easily which leads to less stress on the heart + more relaxed
• Evaluation Effectiveness:

  1. Drug vs Placebo
  2. Symptoms not cause
  3. Side effects
  4. Comparison with other treatments
• Effectiveness - Drug vs Placebo

  • a randomised control trial is used
  • Soomro et al (2008) - reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRI's with OCD. Patients found them more effective then placebos in reducing symptoms
  • Issues = most studies are only a 3 to 4 month duration so long term effects aren't taken into account
• Effectiveness - Symptoms not cause

  • Issues = drugs may be effective in treating symptoms of psychological disorders but they do not resolve the cause of the problem - provides short term fix but not long term
• Effectiveness - Side effects

  • Although drugs are effective in treating psychological disorders many have serious side effects that can have long term affects on patients
• Effectiveness - Comparison with other treatments

  • It is cheap for the patient in the UK - as prescribed drugs are through the NHS
  • Also, the practitioner invests less time in the patient as they only need to meet every couple of months to discuss if drugs are having a positive effect + if the patient is making progress
  • Therefore, it is easy to administer compared to other forms of therapy
• Evaluation - Ethical issues:

  1. Use of placebos
  2. Patient information
• Ethical - use of placebos

  • Issues in studying the effectiveness. A fundamental research ethic is that no patient should be given a treatment known to be inferior. If an effective treatment exists, they should be used as the control condition when new treatments are tested. Substituting a placebo for an effective treatment does not satisfy this duty as it exposes patients to a treatment known to be inferior
• Ethical - Patient information

  • many patients find it difficult to remember all the facts relating to the potential side effects of the drug prescribed or they may not be in the right frame of mind, so truly valid consent is an illusion
  • Medical professionals may also withold information about the drugs. They may also exaggerate the benefits of taking medication + fail to inform the patient of other therapeutic options due to the 'quick fix' nature of drug therapy