Different treatments

• Drug therapies

  • Drug therapies aim to restore normal levels of neurotransmitter action. One of the most well-known forms of drug treatment are SSRIs
  • SSRIs work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin by the pre-synaptic neuron. This results in a greater amount of serotonin within the synapse
  • With more serotonin in the synapse, this increases the likelihood of sufficient serotonin reaching the post-synaptic receptor sites and triggering an electrical impulse to continue down the neuronal pathway
  • SSRIs are used to treat both depression and, increasingly, anxiety
• Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) - bio treatment

  • This is where a patient has electrodes placed on their temples; an electric shock is then passed to their brain
  • The aim is to trigger an epileptic seizure in an attempt to 'jump-start' the entire brain and relieve the symptoms of a mental disorder such as severe depression or a psychotic episode
  • It is administers under anaesthetic
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TSM) - bio treatment

  • This is where an electromagnetic coil is held against the patient's head, near the forehead, and an electric current creates a magnetic pulse that travels through the skull
  • TMS is used as a treatment for depression and it targeted at the left prefrontal cortex with the aim being to create small electrical currents in the brain that spread to underlying deeper areas of the brain involved in mood regulation and normalise neural networks
  • Patients remain alert and awake during treatment
• SSRIs ethical considerations

  • SSRIs are well-tolerated medications that are safe for medically ill or frail patients and safe for overdose. There are no withdrawal effects unless the patients stop them abruptly and no dependency develops.
  • However they can take 12 weeks to become fully effective, can be expensive (can cost more than 1,000 dollars a month) and can cause sexual problems
• ECT ethical considerations

  • Typical course of ECT involves several sessions per week (under aesthetic) over 3-4 weeks.
  • ECT can have benefits (e.g. it can be a 'quick fix' for severe depression while waiting for drug therapy to be effective)
  • Can have risks such as psyical trauma and heart problems as well as short-term confusion as its effectiveness wears off quite quickly
• TMS ethical considerations

  • Involves 3-5 treatments per week for 4-6 weeks, costing up to 12,000 dollars in total. It is milder than ECT and patients can drive home after a TMS session but it seems to require booster sessions as its effectiveness wears off
• Reductionism biological treatment

  Reductionist to claim that mental disorders necessarily require biological treatments. For example, the NHS website suggests the following treatments for depression:

  • Mild depression: wait and see; exercise; self-help groups
  • Mild to moderate depression: talking therapy (CBT; online CBT; interpersonal therapy; psychodynamic psychotherapy; counselling
  • Moderate to severe depression: antidepressants combination therapy (i.e antidepressants and talking therapy) mental health teams (for intensive specialist talking treatments as well as prescribed medication)