Drug therapy Flashcards
Linking the assumption to the therapy
All psychological behaviour is a result of physical rather than psychological processes
The biological approach follows the medical model which state and psychological illness should be treated why physiological rather than psychological methods.
The biological approach assumes that one of the underlying causes for abnormal behaviour is the role of neurotransmitters. These are chemical messengers sent from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron across the synapse.
The approach assumes that the cause of abnormal behaviour to caused by faulty neurotransmitters. For example, a person with low levels of dopamine may develop mental health conditions such as depression.
Therefore the aim of drug therapy is to increase/decrease the number of neurotransmitters in the brain, in order to live a more functional life.
Typical antipsychotic drugs
The first antipsychotic drug was used to tackle the positive symptoms of schizophrenia such as delusions and hallucinations. These symptoms were caused by increased dopamine levels, so the aim of antipsychotics is to reduce the amount of dopamine in the brain.
These work by binding to the dopamine receptors in order to permanently block their action. By reducing stimulation in the dopamine system, it can get rid of any positive symptoms of schizophrenia that patients struggle with.
Atypical antipsychotic drugs
Modern drugs found in the 1990’s. These combat both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
These also bind to dopamine receptors but rather than permanently block the dopamine action, they temporarily bind to the receptors and then rapidly dissociate to allow normal dopamine transmission.
Antidepressant drugs: MAOI
These drugs work by blocking the enzymes that break down serotonin in the brain. Depressed individuals have very low levels of serotonin; therefore it is not beneficial for a depressed person to have more serotonin broken down. By blocking the MAO enzyme that decreases serotonin production, serotonin levels are increased, and the depressed person begins to feel happier.
Antidepressant drugs: SSRI’s
Depressed people have very low levels of serotonin. This is because the reuptake of serotonin in the presynaptic neuron occurs too soon. This means there is lack of appropriate communication between the postsynaptic and the presynaptic neurons.
They work by binding onto the presynaptic neuron in order to prevent the serotonin in the synapse from reabsorbing back into the neuron, increasing the amount of serotonin in the synapse, which will soon be passed onto the postsynaptic neuron. This increases the communication between the two neutrons and will eventually eradicate in symptoms of depression,
Steps in Drug therapy process
1) Individual seeks help from a medical professional, telling them how they feel and what there symptoms are.
2) The medical professional makes a decision as to the type of mental illness the individual displays.
3) the most appropriate drug is prescribe to the individual.
4) A responsible carer for the individual will collect the prescription and the patient will begin to take them. They can be swallowed with water or given injections.
5) Patients takes them every day and in 4 to 6 weeks time will go back for a check up with their medical professional
6) Behaviour of the individual will be monitored and it will be decided if they are to continue with drug therapy alone , start a talking cure (such as CBT) alongside drug therapy, change to another drug or stop drug therapy all together.
Effectiveness of drug therapy
P - Is effective in the short term
E - Soomro Et Al reviewed 17 pieces of research where the effects of SSRI’s on patients with OCD were recorded. They discovered that patients who were given the SSRI’s found them to be much more effective than the placebo. This was evident in the reduced symptoms of OCD patients who took the SSRI’s
E - If patients who take antidepressants show lower levels of depression compared to patients who are on no medication, then this is evidence that drug therapy works.
L - Therefore it can be said that drug therapy is effective, but it is unclear from the evidence how long the drugs worked for, and if the depressed individuals still felt happier when taken off SSRI’s
Ineffectiveness of drug therapy
P - Drug therapy is actually quite ineffective.
E - Drug therapy doesn’t treat the underlying cause of the mental illness, it only treats the symptoms of it because it only targets physical aspects of an individual rather than the psychological.
E- Many other psychological therapiess such as CBT and dream analysis aim to uncover the reason why the mental illness happened in the first place. They look for the trigger into mental illness and then deal with the issue so then the patient can be fully cured.
L - This means that drug therapy is ineffective especially in the long term because if only symptoms are treated, they will return once the drug therapy stops.
Ethics of Drug therapy
P - Drug therapy is unethical because of the symptoms they can cause to the patients.
E - There are side effects to the drugs, which can make this type of treatment unethical e.g physical harm such as headaches and nausea or psychological harm like memory loss.
E - If medical professionals persuade patients to use drug therapy by saying the benefits outweigh the costs, patients may feel pressured to engage in the therapy
L - Although drug therapy is considered unethical because of the risk of harm, some mental illnesses are worse than the side effects of drug therapy and may save a patients life. therefore the benefits do outweigh the costs.
Ethics of Drug therapy
P - Drug therapy can be unethical because although the consent is given, it may not be valid/informed.
E - It is not always possible to guarantee valid consent from patients. Some may not be in a fit mental state to give consent, or they may not fully understand what it is they are taking or why.
E - This means that the therapy should be fully explained to the patient or there should be a responsible carer who can agree to the therapy for the patient
L - If consent is valid, the therapy will be ethical and patients can become responsible for their treatments,
