Evaluation of drug therapy

Question 1

Name an advantage of drug therapy

Answer 1

There is supporting evidence of the effectiveness of drug therapy
Soomoro et al in 2008 reviewed 17 studies of SSRI with OCD patients and found them to be more effective than placebos in reducing the symptoms of OCD up to three months of treatment
However Koran et al in 2007 argued that one of the issues regarding the evaluation of treatment is that most studies are of a three to four month duration
Although drug therapy is effective in the short term, the lack of long term duration is a limitation

Question 2

Name an evaluation point

Answer 2

Drug therapies are preferred to other treatments this is because it requires little input from the users. As opposed to therapies such as CBT, which require patients to spend a considerable amount of time and thought into tackling their problems. Drug treatments are cheaper for health services as they require little monitoring and cost much less than psychological treatments. This is more economical for the health service than psychological therapies

Question 3

Name a third evaluation point

Answer 3

Drug treatments are not a lasting cure
Maina et al 2001 found that patients relapse within a few weeks if medication stops. Koran et al in 2007 in a comprehensive review of treatments for OCD sponsored by the American Psychiatric association suggested although drug therapy may be commonly used psychotherapies such as CBT should be used first

Question 4

Name a disadvantage of drug therapies

Answer 4

Side effects
Nausea, headaches and insomnia are common side effects are SSRI (Soomro et al 2008) although they are not necessarily severe they can be enough to stop a patient from taking the drug
Tricylic antidepressants have side effects such as hallucinations and irregular heartbeats
The side effects of BZ include increased aggressiveness and long-term memory impairment
There are also problems with addiction so it is recommended that they are used for four weeks maximum (Ashton 1997)
The side effects therefore limit the usefulness of drugs as a treatment for OCD

Question 5

Name another disadvantage of drug therapies

Answer 5

Turner et al in 2008 argued that there is evidence of a publication bias towards studies that show a positive outcome of antidepressant treatment
Authors found out that positive results were more likely to be punished and results that were not positive were altered to give a more positive review
Drug companies have a strong interest in the continuing success of psychotherapeutic drugs
Turner et al suggests that such selective publication can lead doctors to make inappropriate decisions that may not be in the best interest of their patients.