biological therapy for schizophrenia Flashcards
what can the drugs be divided into
- typical antipsychotics
- atypical antipsychotics
what are typical antipsychotics
- the first generation of drugs for schizophrenia.
- been used since 1950’s.
- work as dopamine antagonists
give examples of typical antipsychotics
- chlorpromazine
how can typical antipsychotics be taken
- tablets
- syrups
- injections
if taken orally what is the maximum mg that can be taken for typical antipsychotics
1000
what is the average amount people take for typical antipsychotics
400-800mg
what are atypical antpsychotics
developed in the 1960’s and trialled in early 70’s.
- used when other treatments failed\
what are examples of atypical antipsychotics
- Clozapine
- resperidone
what did Marder and Meibach (1994) research
- studied schizophrenic patients who took resperidone compared to haloperidol or a placebo
- showed significant improvement in both positive and negative symptoms.
how do drugs link to issues and debates
is biologically reductionist as they reduce complex disorders os schizophrenia down to be treated to using tablets/syrups and injections.
what are the strengths to drug treatments
- there is a body of compelling research evidence which suggests that antipsychotics are an affective treatment for scz
- antipsychotics are most effective at treating patients with the most severe symptoms who may not be treatable using non-drug therapies (Furakawa et al. 2015)
what are limitations for drug therapies
- patients with milder, less extreme forms of schizophrenia benefit less from taking antipsychotics and may additionally experience adverse side effects.
- it is not clear as to how effective antipsychotics are in preventing relapses in patients who are in remission.
