Biological treating OCD

• The biological explanations of OCD imply that biological treatments may be successful most obviously through the use of drug therapy that target abnormal neurotransmitter levels.
• As low levels of serotonin are associated with OCD, certain drugs work in various ways to increase the level of serotonin in the brain. Typically serotonin is released by certain neurons in the brain, serotonin is released by the presynaptic neurons and diffuses across the synapse by chemiosmosis. Serotonin binds to the postsynaptic neuron receptor sites and chemically conveys the signal from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron. Then it is reabsorbed by the postsynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused.
• The standard medical treatment to tackle symptoms of OCD involves SSRIs, which work on serotonin system in the brain.

  They prevent the rebsorption and breakdown of serotonin, thus effectively increase the levels of serotonin in the synapse and they continue to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron. This compensates for whatever is wrong with the serotonin system in OCD and therefore alleviates symptoms of OCD.
• They were originally developed for those suffering depression but it was found that they also helped OCD in those who had a co-morbid condition of depression and OCD. (About 40% of those with OCD also suffer depression)
• The drugs are often used alongside CBT to treat OCD, by reducing the patient's emotional symptoms such as feeling anxious/depressed which means people can engage more effectively with CBT. Where an SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) is not effective dosage can be increased or alternatives can be used such as Tricyclics or SNRIS which increase levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. More recently SSRI's have been introduced and used for treatment of OCD, the most common being fluoxetine (or Prozac) and Citalopram
• side effects;

  All SSRIs work in a similar way and generally can cause similar side effects, though some people may not experience any. Many side effects may go away after the first few weeks of treatment, while others may lead you and your doctor to try a different drug, If you can't tolerate and SSRI, you may be able to tolerate a different one, as SSRI's differ in chemical makeup.
• Possible side effects;

  • drowsiness
  • nausea
  • dry mouth
  • insomnia
  • diarrhoea
  • nervousness, agitation or restlessness
  • dizziness
  • sexual problems, such as reduced sexual desire or difficulty reaching orgasm or inability to maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction)
  • headache
  • blurred vision
• However there are also several weaknesses for the appropriateness of using drug therapy to treat OCD from its inability to be generalisable to all patients.

  For example a significant minority of users of SSRis get no benefit from doing so. Some patients also have side effects such as: indigestion, blurred vison, loss of sex drives, nausea etc. For patients taking Clomipramine, side effects are more common and serious. More than one in ten suffer erection problems, tremors and weight gain. More than one in 100 become aggressive and suffer disruption to blood pressure and heart rhythm.
• Continuing weakness;

  This clearly suggests that the treatment may not be appropriate for all patients and so should only be prescribed with caution. These side effects could also explain why drug therapies are not very effective as people may stop taking the medication due to the side effects and so don't get better.
• There is lots of supporting evidence for the effectiveness of SSRI from research claims suggesting that it has reduced the severity of symptoms of OCD. For example, a review which compared SSRIS to placebos showed significantly better results for the SSRIs than for placebos.
• Continuing strength;

  What's more effective is greatest when SSRIs are combined with a psychological treatment such as CBT with symptoms decline for around 70% of patients taking SSRIs. This suggests that therapies can help most patients with OCD. Therefore this supports the point that it is an effective way to treat OCD especially when combined with therapies based on other approaches taking an interactionist approach to treatment.
• What's more there are lots of strengths for supporting the appropriateness of drug treatments from its implications on our health care system. For example drug therapies have been found to be cheap compared to psychological treatments. Consequently taking drugs is more cost effective for our health

  services. In addition they are less disruptive to the patient's lives as they can passively just take the drugs until their symptoms subside rather than actively engage with psychological therapy.
• Continuing weakness;

  Therefore this clearly is a strength for the appropriateness for drug therapy as a means for treating OCD, as this explains why so many doctors and patient's like the drug therapies as a means of treating OCD and so should be used to do so.
• There are major limitations of the effectiveness of using SSRIs to treat OCD as supporting research of its effectiveness could be influenced by researcher bias.

  For example some psychologists believe that evidence favouring drug treatments is biassed because the research is supported by drug companies who do not report all of the evidence. This clearly undermines the effectiveness of drug therapies such as SSRIs as they may be less effective than we have been led to believe by the research.
• Continuing weakness;

  Thus we should be cautious when opting for this treatment and should instead do research and choose more reliable and well established treatments for OCD.