Treating OCD Flashcards
What is the treatment?
Drug therapy
What are the types of drugs used?
SSRI antidepressants
Tricyclic antidepressants
Benzodiazepine (BZ) anti-anxiety drugs
What do SSRIs do?
The most commonly used drugs to reduce the anxiety associated with OCD.
They block the reuptake of serotonin in the presynaptic membrane, increasing serotonin concentration at receptor sites on the postsynaptic membrane.
Since low serotonin levels are implicated the brains worry circuit increasing serotonin may have the effect of normalising.
What do tricyclics do?
Block the transporter mechanism that reabsorbs both serotonin and noradrenaline into the presynaptic cells that released them.
The effect of this is to increase both serotonin and noradrenaline levels.
When are tricyclics used?
They have more side effects than SSRIs and so are used as a second-line treatment when SSRIs have not been effective
What do Benzodiazepines do?
They enhance the activity of gamma-aminobutyic acid (GABA), which has a general quietening effect on many brain neurons.
They react with GABA receptors on the receiving neuron. This makes it harder for the neuron to be stimulated by other neurotransmitters.
The neurons activity is slowed down, and induces feelings of relaxation.
What are the evaluative points?
Evidence for the effectiveness of drug treatments
Drug therapies preferred to other treatments
Drugs have side effects
What is meant by evidence for the effectiveness of drug treatments?
Soomro (2008) reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRIs with OCD patients and found them to be more effective than placebo in reducing the symptoms of OCD up to three months after treatment.
However, most studies only last 3-4 months (Koran, 2007), and many patients relapse within a few weeks if medication is stopped (Maina, 2001).
Therefore, while drugs treatments have been shown to be effective in the short term, they may not provide a lasting cure.
What is meant by drug therapies are preferred to other treatments?
An advantage of drug therapies is that they involve little input from the user in terms of effort and time, and require little monitoring by doctors.
In contrast, therapies such as CBT require the patient to attend regular meetings and put considerable thought into tackling their problems, as well as requiring therapists time.
These benefits mean that drug therapies are more economical for health service than psychological therapies.
What is meant by drugs have side effects?
Nausea, headaches and insomnia are common side effects of SSRIs (Soomro, 2008). Tricyclics can have worse side effects, such as hallucinations and irregular heartbeat.
BZs can cause increased aggressiveness and long-term memory impairment. They are also addictive, so BZs should be limited to a maximum of four weeks of treatment (Ashton, 1997).
These side effects can be enough to make a patient stop taking the drugs, and therefore limit the usefulness of drugs and treatments for OCD.
