Treating OCD Flashcards
What are the 3 types of drug therapies for OCD ?
- SSRI’s
- Alternative drug based treatments
- Combination therapy
What do all drug therapies do ?
They work to increase or decrease activity of neurotransmitters in the brain
What is a synaptic transmission ? (SSRI)
- Serotonin is released by neurons in the brain
- Released by pre-synaptic neurons
- Travels across the synapse to convey signals to post-synaptic neuron
What does synaptic mean ?
- Synapses between nerve cells
What does SSRI stand for ?
Selective seretonin reuptake inhibitors
What is SSRI and what are some facts about it ?
- Typical dosage is 20mg of fluoxetine
- can be increase if it isn’t working
- available in capulse’s or liquid
- can take 3-4 months to start working
What are SSRI’s side effects ?
- indigestion
- blurred vision
- loss of sex drive
What are additional therapies that can be used ?
- after 3-4 months the dosage can be increased (Up to 60mg)
- tricyclics have the same effect as serotonin but has more severe side effects
- used when patients don’t respond to SSRI’s
What are SRNI’s ?
Increased seretonin and noradrenaline
What is combination therapy ?
- Drugs alongside talking therapy
- Drugs help reduce symptoms to help them engage in therapy
What are the evaluations of treating OCD ?
Strength = Research support
- Soomro
- Meta-analysis of 17 studies comparing SSRI’s and placebo’s
- All studies showed a significant effect for SSRI’s
- Symptoms reduced by 70%
Strength = cheap and easy
- Cheap in comparison to talking therapies (CBT)
- They are non-disruptive and take little effort from patient
Limitation = serious side effects
- Some may get no benefits
- Side effects are normally temporary
- With tricyclic side effects are common and serious.
- 1 in 10 experience weight loss
- Leads to worse quality of life and people stop taking the drugs
