Treatment of Psychological Disorders II Flashcards
Psychopharmocology
Study of drug effects on psychological states and symptoms
Antipsychotic medications
Treat schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders
How do antipsychotics work?
- Block dopamine receptors in the mesolimbic pathway area
- Work well for positive symptoms b/c of dopamine overactivity, but do not work for negative symptoms b/c of dopamine underactivity
- Atypical (new) drugs target serotonin and dopamine systems
- Risk of side effects; need to take drugs for side effects
Antianxiety medication
Drugs to reduce a person’s experience of fear or anxiety
More about antianxiety medication
- Common type = benzodiazepines; facilitates the
action of GABA = calming effect
– Potential for drug abuse! = higher quantities are
required over time (tolerance) and significant
withdrawal symptoms
– Side effects may make people stop treatment (i.e.,
drowsiness, impaired memory etc.)
– Need to take medication to help deal with side
effects
Antidepressants
Class of drugs that help lift people’s moods. Includes monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Take up to a month before they have an effect on mood but not recommended for bipolar disorder.
MAOIs
- Prevents enzyme monoamine oxidase from breaking down neurotransmitters such as NE, serotonin, and dopamine
– Lots of side effects and drug interactions
Tricyclic antidepressants
- Block reuptake of NE and serotonin by increasing the
amount of neurotransmitter in the space btwn the neurons
– Lots of side effects and drug interactions
SSRIs
- Block the reuptake of serotonin in the brain making more available in the space between neurons
– More serotonin in the space means that the neuron can recognize it and send the right signal to the brain
– Most common!
SNRIs
- Acts on both serotonin and NE or NE and dopamine
– Fewer side effects than traditional MAOIs and tricyclic
antidepressants
Mood stabilizers
Treatment for bipolar disorder
– Suppress swings between mania and depression
– Patient specific – need to be monitored and adjusted
based on how a patient responds
Why use herbal and natural products?
– Available over the counter
– Less expensive
– Natural alternatives to synthetic drugs
Are herbal and natural products effective?
- Complex issue!
– Not regulated by FDA so effectiveness isn’t measured
– Worth exploring, but use caution (interactions w/
other meds, side effects, dosages, effectiveness)
Combining medication and psychotherapy?
- Depends on the disorder
– Issue of cooperation btwn psychologists and psychiatrists
Biological treatments beyond medication?
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- Phototherapy
- Psychosurgery
- Deep brain stimulation (DMS)
Electroconvulsive therapy
Shock therapy; involves inducing a brief seizure by delivering an electric shock to the brain
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Involves placing a powerful pulsed magnet over a person’s scalp which alters neuronal activity in the brain
Phototherapy
Repeated exposure to bright light
Psychosurgery
The destruction of specific brain areas
Deep brain stimulation
Psychosurgery with electric current
Natural improvement
Tendency of symptoms to return to their mean or average level; would get better regardless of
treatment
– Most people go to therapy when symptoms are at their worst, so treatment seems like it is working as symptoms get better
– Use of interventions to test treatment effectiveness
Placebo effects
Inert substance or procedure that has been applied with the expectation that a healing response will be produced; believe in the effectiveness of drug improves chances it will work
– Recovery is produced by nonspecific treatment
effects
– Maybe person is getting better just because of the
client-patient relationship
Reconstructive memory
Mistakenly believing your symptoms before treatment were worse than they were
– Misremembering that your symptoms were worse
before treatment than they actually were
– Client w/ strong expectations of success in therapy
might attribute great success to even a poor
treatment
Treat outcome studies
Designed to evaluate a particular treatment compared to other treatments or controls
Double-blind experiments
Participant and researcher/therapist are uninformed about which treatment the participant is receiving
– Only really effective for drug studies
Psychotherapy clients are better off than untreated clients; but… how to know which treatment will work?
- Look for well-established (evidence from experimental
trials) and probably efficacious (those w/ preliminary
evidence) treatments - Obvious dangers of medication, but be careful of
psychotherapies as well
Iatrogenic illness
Disorder or symptom that occurs as a result of a medical or psychotherapeutic treatment itself
Ethical principles of treatment
- Respect for dignity of persons
- Responsible caring
- Integrity in relationships
- Responsibility to society
Respect for dignity of persons
- Protecting well-being of vulnerable people
– Seeking fairness in treatments/avoiding biases
Responsible caring
Striving to benefit clients; do no harm
Integrity in relationships
Accuracy, truthfulness in treatments
Responsibility to society
Use psychological knowledge to inform social policies
