biological treatments of schizophrenia Flashcards
strengths of biological treatments
-cost effective in relation to other treatments such as therapy e.g. therapy can be £60+ per session whereas 28 10mg Chlorpromazine tablets could cost around £15 meaning the treatment is more accessible to sufferers allowing help for a larger group of people. Also helps more people be able to get back to work positively impacting the economic state.
-ethical. patients are more able to live independently without institutionalisation. The use of drug treatments has ended long term institutionalisation in mental health hospitals and perhaps enhanced quality of life. Additionally while there is a sedative effect this could calm patients into being able to engage with other treatments such as CBT. Showing how the drugs can help.
strength of biological treatments
effectiveness
Thornly et al. reviewed 13 studies with 1121 ppts of the effectiveness of chlorpromazine finding reduced symptom severity and improved overall function compared to placebo.
weakness of biological treatments
ethics
some side effects of typical and atypical e.g. tardive dyskinesia, agranulocytosis and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, are serious and significant so they can do harm as well as good. This may also reduce adherence leading to symptoms reoccurring- the ‘revolving door’ of people in and out of treatment. This shows the huge impacts drug treatment can have.
weakness of drug therapy
to care or subdue?
an issue with drug therapy is that they mask the symptoms of schizophrenia. This is because drug treatments do not treat the root cause of the issue but rather act as a temporary relief of the symptoms. This differs from other treatments such as CBT which targets the root cause by utilising mechanisms such as rationality to logically deal with schizophrenia. Therefore although drug treatments may be more accessible they may be argued to subdue the patients rather than care for them.
