Drug Therapy

Question 1

What are the two mains drugs used in the treatment of stress?

Answer 1

• Benzodiazepines
• Beta blockers

Question 2

What are Benzodiazepines?

Answer 2

The most prescribed drugs for psychological disorders and can be very effective against stress

Question 3

How do benzodiazepines work?

Answer 3

They work directly on the ANS and slow down the CNS activity, they speed up the production of GABA. GABA tells the neurons that it contacts to slow down or stop firing

Question 4

What does GABA do?

Answer 4

Slows down nerve cell activity and cause relaxation, it also reduced serotonin activity

Question 5

How do beta blockers work?

Answer 5

Reduce activity in the pathways of the sympathetic nervous system, they reduce the activity of adrenaline and non adrenaline, they cause lower cortisol levels

Question 6

What are the three steps of beta blockers?

Answer 6

1) Enter the bloodstream
2) Prevent adrenaline from attaching to the receptors on the hearts cell
3) Heart rate stays normal

Question 7

What did Davidson do?

Answer 7

Performed an assessment of benzodiazepines usage as a treatment for 75 patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder

Question 8

What was the procedure of Davidson’s study?

Answer 8

Patients randomly assigned to the drug or placebo treatment for ten weeks

Question 9

What were the findings of Davidson’s study?

Answer 9

With the drug treatment, 78% of patients improved compared to only 20% of placebo patients, effective in the short and long term

Question 10

What did Lockwood do?

Answer 10

Studied over 2000 musicians in major US symphony orchestras and found that 27% reported to taking beta blockers. Musicians felt better about performance after taking beta blockers

Question 11

What did Gates do?

Answer 11

Tested effectiveness of beta blockers against stage fright in musicians. 34 singing students given different amounts of beta blockers or a placebo during end of term exams. Low does improved performance minimally while high dose hindered performance significantly, effective in small dose

Question 12

What are 3 evaluation points of benzodiazepines?

Answer 12

• Cheap and quick
• Addictive
• Become dependent and reliant

Question 13

What are 3 evaluation points of beta blockers?

Answer 13

• Not addictive
• Cheap and quick
• Treat symptoms not cause