The biological approach to treating phobias

Question 1

What is drug therapy?

Answer 1

Treatments involving drugs that have a particular effect on the brain

Question 2

What are SSRI’s?

Answer 2

• selective serotonin reputake inhibitors
• these target serotonin neurotransmitters and prevent the reuptake of serotonin at the presynaptic nerve terminal which increases the number of serotonin neurotransmitters that diffuse across the synapse and bind to post receptor sites

Question 3

What other drug therapies are used to treat OCD

Answer 3

• combinding SSRIs with CBT
• tricyclics which have similar effects to SSRIs
• SNRIs - serotonin - noradrenaline reputake inhibitors which increase levels of serotonin and noradrenaline

Question 4

What are two strengths?

Answer 4

• There is evidence for effectivennesss. Soomro reviewed 17 studies that compared SSRIs to placebos and found in all 17, SSRis were more effective. Symptoms reduced for 70%
• Cost effective and non- disruptive to people’s lifes. Drugs are sometimes free from the NHS and compared to therapy, are relatively cheaper. They also do not require intense psychological therapy

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Question 5

What is a weakness of drug therapy

Answer 5

• there are potential serious side effects which can affect peoples quality of life such as weight gain, indigestion, blurred vision and constipation
• more than one in 10 people expierence erectile dsyfunction