Midterm Flashcards
When was the birth of modern psychopharmacology?
1950s
NOT a medical specialty
Psychoactive drugs available prior to that time (birth of modern psychopharm)?
Morphine and Cocaine
Why did it take so long for lithium to get FDA approval?
Death due to toxicity (cardiac patients)
What factors have helped reduce the factionalism between the pro-medication and anti-medication groups in mental health care?
a. Research of efficacy of psychotropic drugs in therapy
b. Brain imaging
c. Development of new medication
What are the roles of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)?
a. FDA: Cannot regulate dietary supplements unless there is substantial harm to public
b. FDA: remove unsafe drugs from market, regulate safety, purity, and labeling of food drugs and cosmetics. They approve new drugs
c. DEA: Enforce laws regulating drugs with potential for abuse or addiction
What influences what substances are “drugs”?
a. Political
b. Legal
c. Financial
What are the six appropriate uses of psychotropic medication (you only need to know 5)?
a. Clearly diagnosed psych illness
b. Medication withdrawal, or discontinuation
c. Sedation during medical procedure
d. Address symptoms that have been resistant to other treatments
e. Interference of quality of life
What are beliefs about psychotropic medication that create bias for therapists to not learn about them, or use it as part of their treatment?
a. Medication should be last resort
b. Medications are addictive
c. Lacking training
Who prescribes medications the most?
a. Non-psychiatric physicians
What are appropriate functions of the nonmedical therapist in the management of medications?
a. Non suggesting specific medications or doses to prescribing doctors
b. We DO: Monitoring, collecting history, providing psychoeducation
Historically why has treatment of psychotropic medication failed?
a. Psychiatrist only focusing on meds, not therapy
b. Non psychiatrist prescribing meds
c. Therapist having little training in psychopharmacology
What can therapists do to improve communication with prescribing physicians?
a. Be concise
b. Be organized
c. Use medical terminology during conversations
d. Ask observations, valuable information from psych
How can a client participate in their own treatment when taking/prescribed medication?
a. Name of medication
b. Dosage of medication
c. Their team (dr, us) are aware of any side effects
What psychotropic drugs are considered to be the most addictive?
a. Benzodiazepines
b. Psychostimulants
c. EX: Valium, Xanax, Ritalin, Dexedrine
What is ethnopsychopharmacology?
a. Investigates ethnic, cultural differences that influence the effectiveness of psychotropic drugs
b. Seeks to develop culturally sensitive treatment and prescribing practices with psychotropic meds
What does the term “slow metabolizer” mean?
a. (African Americans, Asians)
b. Slow metabolizers are at a risk of severe side effects because they are metabolizing drugs at slower rates than Caucasian counterparts
c. Drug toxicity when standard dosages are prescribed
What are some barriers to treatment for BIPOC communities?
a. Accessibility
b. Stigma
c. Mistrust
d. Cost
e. Cultural differences
The PNS is divided into the SNS and ANS. The ANS is further divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic, which branch is responsible for the “fight or flight” response?
a. Sympathetic
Prolonged low level activation of the fight or flight response can cause what kind of long term issues?
a. Cardiac
b. Digestive
What do neurons, and glial cells do?
a. Neurons – conduct action potentials through nervous system
b. Glial cells – provide support functions for neurons
The CNS consists of what?
a. Neurons inside the brain and spinal cord
What does cortisol do in fight or flight?
a. Suppresses reaction to stress, allowing body to engage in adaptive responses to danger
- What is reuptake?
a. Process in which a transmitter in a synapse is sucked into the axon terminal that released them
On the neuron, what receives the action potential from other neurons?
a. Dendrite
what carries the electrical impulse to another neuron?
a. Axon
What do glial cells do/why are they so important?
a. Provide physical support
b. Provide insulation
c. Assist with bringing nutrients to neurons
What are neurotransmitters?
a. Chemicals that act as chemical bridge in synapse to help move electrical impulse rapidly from one neuron to the next
Are all anxiety disorders a result of inappropriate activation of the sympathetic nervous system response?
a. YES
The limbic system is responsible for what?
a. Mood and behavior
Route of neurotransmitter?
a. Manufactured in cell body, goes down cell axon, stored in vesicle (axon terminal), waits to be released into the synapse
Purpose of myelin sheath?
a. Provide insulation for axon
b. Speeds up conduction of electrical impulse
Neurotransmitters of significance in psychopharmacology or that we as therapists focus on are?
a. Serotonin
b. Norepinephrine
c. Dopamine
what percentage of the brain is our body weight and what percentage of the blood flow and oxygen supply does it consume?
a. 2% of body weight
b. 20% of oxygen
How long does it take for a drug to be absorbed into the bloodstream when orally administered?
a. 2-3 hours
What is the most common MH problem for which people seek treatment for?
a. Depression
What are some important facts about generic names of drugs?
a. Never capitalized
b. Remain same wherever drug is manufactured throughout the world
Facts about brand names?
a. Usually short
b. Memorable to public
c. Capitalized
