Schizophrenia Interactionist therapies Flashcards
Double whopper, strength
QUALITY OF LIFE
TARRIER ET AL
There is support from studies using combinations of treatments of schizophrenia.
Tarrier et al (2004) randomly allocated 315 patients to a medication and CBT group, medication and support counselling or a control group (medication only). Patients in the two combination groups showed lower symptom levels that those in the medication only group.
This shows that there is a clear advantage of adopting an interactionist approach to treatment.
It means that patients have a better quality of life with less symptoms and therefore patients should be offered this interactionist approach.
Double whopper, limitation
Turkington
FLAWED LOGIC
The interactionist treatments for schizophrenia may have flawed logic.
Turkington et al (2004) argue that just because there is a good logical fit between the interactionist approach and using combination treatments, this does not mean that the interactionist approach to schizophrenia is correct.
Just because combined biological and psychological treatments are more effective than individual treatments, this does not provide support for the interactionist approach. This is similar to the fact that just because antipsychotic drugs reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, it does not mean that schizophrenia is biological in origin.
This error of logic is called the treatment-causation fallacy and is unlikely to ever be resolved.
Hamburger, limitation
NOT COST EFFECTIVE
Although there is evidence to support interactionist treatments of schizophrenia, they are not cost effective.
For example, giving a sufferer biological and psychological treatments is much more costly than giving them antipsychotic drugs alone and Tarrier et al (2004) found that although combination therapies reduced symptoms levels in sufferers, it did not reduce their readmission to hospital.
This means that the NHS may be less likely to offer interactionist treatments to those suffering from schizophrenia.
