OCD - Drug therapy

• Biological approach


  Treating OCD
• SSRI


  Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
• Use the level of serotonin
• Evaluation


  Evidence of effectiveness
• Severity of OCD goes up to 70%
• The Peace
• Higher level
• Legal Making
• In partio
• Selective seratanin sea
• System in te
• Led by t
• Ape ber dagam on the wg The
• Creuon where it is broke down and
• Absorption and breakdown, 55s efecte
• The rpse and thus conse to relay the postnupte
• Whatever is wong with the sectonin system in o
• Dage and other advice wary according to which 55 is presented a
• Dese of fine leg bound narse Procalis 20mg though may b
• En benefting the persan The dug is available as capsules or g
• Me to our rests of daily use for 55% to have much pati
• Combining SSRIs with other treatments

  1. Drugs are offered alongside cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to treat emotional symptoms

  2. People with OCD can engage more effectively with the therapy

  3. Some people respond best to CBT alone whilst others benefit when additionally using drugs

  4. Occasionally other drugs are prescribed alongside SSRIs
• Where an SSRI is not effective after three to four months
• The dose can be increased (up to 60mg a day for fluoxetine) or it can be combined with other drugs
• Sometimes different antidepressants are tried
• People respond very differently to drugs and alternatives
• Tricyclics (an older type of antidepressant) are sometimes used
• Obsportive This acts on various systems including the serotonin systems where it has the same effect as SSRIs
• Glampamine has more severe side-effects than SSRIs, so it is generally kept in reserve for people who do not respond to SSRIs
• SNEH (serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors) have more recently been used to treat OCD
• These are a different class of antidepressant drugs and are a second line of defence for people who don't respond to SSRIs
• SNRI increase levels of serotonin as well as another different neurotransmitter, noradrenaline
• Counterpoint he
• Festive har ar
• Cost-effective and non-disruptive


  • Stepped to psychology
  • Drugs can be manufactured
  • Represents a good option
  • Also non-disruptive
• Time spent attending therapy with drugs means the drug population
• Serious side-effects
• Limitation of drug treatments for OCD is that they don't address the root cause
• Though drugs help some people, a small minority will get benefit
• Some people also experience side-effects such as