The biological approach to treating ocd Flashcards
Biased evidence
There is always a degree of controversy over the evidence for the effectiveness of drugs because of the strong links between researchers and drug companies. Some psychologists believe that the evidence for drug effectiveness is biased because researchers are sponsored by drug companies. This means they may selectively publish positive outcomes for the sake of their sponsors’ profits (Goldacre 2013). This kind of bias might be unconscious as well as conscious – even researchers with high levels of integrity are likely to want to believe that the drugs they are paid to test are effective.
On the other hand, there is a lack of independent studies of drug effectiveness. Also, consider that bias may affect any researcher, and although the same financial incentives do not exist when researching psychological therapies, researchers who evaluate psychological therapies may also be biased by the psychological approach that they favour. For example a cognitive psychologist may be inclined to favour cognitive therapies and produce research supporting such therapies. So the best evidence available to us is supportive of the usefulness of drugs for OCD, and this is comparable to the evidence supporting psychological treatments.
Therefore, as far as we know drugs are effective for OCD, so it may be preferable to continue using them.
Evaluation
Evidence of effectiveness
One strength of drug treatment for OCD is good evidence for its effectiveness.
There is clear evidence to show that SSRIs reduce symptom severity and improve the quality of life for people with OCD. For example, G. Mustafa Soomro et al. (2009) reviewed 17 studies that compared SSRis to placebos in the treatment of OCD. All 17 studies showed significantly better outcomes for SSRIs than for the placebo conditions. Typically symptoms reduce for around 70% of people taking SSRis. For the remaining 30%, most can be helped by either alternative drugs or combinations of drugs and psychological therapies.
This means that drugs appear to be helpful for most people with OCD
Counterpoint
Counterpoint There is some evidence to suggest that even if drug treatments are helpful for most people with OCD they may not be the most effective treatments available. Petros Skapinakis et al. (2016) carried out a systematic review of outcome studies and concluded that both cognitive and behavioural (exposure) therapies were more effective than SSRIs in the treatment of OCD.
This means that drugs may not be the optimum treatment for OCD
Cost-effective and non-disruptive
One further strength of drugs is that they are cost-effective and non-disruptive to people’s lives.
A strength of drug treatments for psychological disorders in general is that they are cheap compared to psychological treatments because many thousands of tablets or liquid. doses can be manufactured in the time it takes to conduct one session of a psychological therapy. Using drugs to treat OCD is therefore good value for public health systems like the NHS and represents a good use of limited funds. As compared to psychological therapies, SSRIs are also non-disruptive to people’s lives. If you wish you can simply take drugs until your symptoms decline. This is quite different from psychological therapy which involves time spent attending therapy sessions.
This means that drugs are popular with many people with OCD and their doctors.
Serious side-effects
One limitation of drug treatments for OCD is that drugs can have potentially serious side-effects.
Although drugs such as SSRis help most people, a small minority will get no benefit.
Some people also experience side effects such as indigestion blurred vision and loss of sex drive. These side-effects are usually temporary, however they can be quite distressing for people and for a minority they are long-lasting. For those taking the tricyclic clomipramine, side-effects are more common ind can be more serious. For example more than 1 in 10 people experience erection prodiems and weight gain, 1 in 100 become aggressive and experience heart-related problems.
This means that some people have a reduced quality of life as a result of taking drugs and may stop taking them altogether, meaning the drugs cease to be effective.
