Psychopathology: The biological approach for treating OCD Flashcards
What is GABA?
a neurotransmitter that regulates excitement in the nervous system thus acting as a natural form of anxiety reducer
What is noradrenaline?
a neurotransmitter found mainly in the areas of the brain that are involved in governing the autonomic nervous system e.g., blood pressure or heart rate
What is serotonin?
a neurotransmitter implicated in multiple different behaviours and psychological processes, including aggression, eating behaviours, sleep and depression
What are the 3 drugs used in drug therapy?
SSRIs
Tricyclics
Benzodiazepines (Bz)
What is the most commonly used drug to treat OCD?
antidepressants e.g. SSRIs
What do SSRIs do?
Increase levels of serotonin in order to normalise or correct the worry circuit thus reducing anxiety.
The increase in serotonin levels help regulate mood and anxiety.
What do tricyclics do?
Stop the re-absorption of noradrenaline and serotonin at pre-synaptic membrane which increases their concentrations at the post-synaptic membrane thus prolonging activity.
What do Benzodiazepines do?
Commonly used to reduce anxiety as they enhance the activity of the neurotransmitter, GABA, which increases the flow of chloride ions that slows down the activity of the CNS. Therefore, reducing anxiety through relaxing the individual.
What are the 4 AO3 points for the biological approach to treating OCD
+Supporting evidence
+Advantages of drug treatments
-Disadvantages of drug therapy
-Side effects of drug treatments
(+AO3) What is the supporting evidence for the biological approach to treating OCD?
Meta-analysis of drug trials with SSRIs with a placebo control. The researchers found drugs to be more effective than placebos. However, results were only recorded up to 4 months after the procedure so there’s a high possible chance of relapse that wasn’t accounted for.
(+AO3) What are the advantages of drug treatments?
Requires little input from patients in terms of time and effort especially when compared to treatments such as CBT which requires commitment and is very time consuming. Drug therapies are also more cost effective for health services which means that they can help more people quickly and cheaply.
(-AO3) What are the disadvantages of drug theory?
Not a lasting cure. Further research has shown high relapse rates after medication stops which suggests a mitigation of symptoms rather than a cure. CBT may have to be used in combination with the drugs.
(-AO3) What are the side effects of drug thearpy?
SSRIs – nausea, headaches and insomnia
Tricyclics – hallucinations, irregular heartbeat
BZs – aggressiveness and long-term memory impairment —> there’s also issues with addiction
