The biological approach to treating OCD

Question 1

Antidepressants: SSRIs

Answer 1

The drugs most commonly used for depression as well as antidepressants.

• Lows the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin are associated with depression as well as OCD.
• So drugs that increase the level of serotonin are used for both mental disorders
  e. d prozac

Question 2

What does low levels of serotonin implicate

Antidepressants SSRis (AO1)

Answer 2

Implicated in the ‘worry circut’ described on the previous spread, so increasing levels of serotonin may therefore normalise the circut

Question 3

What are antidepressants used for?

Choy and Schneier (2008)
AO1

Answer 3

To reduced anxiety associated with OCD.

Choy and Schneier (2008) found that SSRIs are currentl the preffered drug for treating anxiety disorders

Question 4

Antidepressants: tricyclics

AO1

Answer 4

The first antidepressant to be used for oCD and toay is primarly used in the treatment of OCD rather than depression.

• Block the transporter mechanism that re-absrobs both serotonin and noradrenanline into the pre-synaptic cell after it has fired
  e. g anfranil

Question 5

Advantage of Trcyclics

AO1

Answer 5

Have have the advantage of targetting more than one neurotransmitter.

Question 6

Anti-anxiety drugs

Benzodiazepines (BZs)

Answer 6

Benzodiazepines (BZs) are commonly used to reduce anxiety.
- They slow dow the activity of the central nervous system by enhaning the activty of the neurotransmitter GABA.

When GABA locks into these receptors it opens a channel that increases the flow of chloride ions into the neuron, these ions make it harder for the neuron to be stimulated by other neurotransmitters, thus slowing down its activity and making the person feel more relaxed.

Question 7

Other drugs

Answer 7

Recent research has found that D-cycloserine has an effect on reducing anxiety and thus may be effective treatment for OCD, particulary whn used in the conjunctio with psychotherapy.

D-cycloserine is an antibiotic used in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Kushner et al (2007) found that it also appears to enhance the transmission of GABA and thus reduces anixety

Question 8

Effectiveness

Soomro et al. (2008)
Strength of Drug treatments

PEE

Answer 8

P: There is considerable evidence for the effectiveness od drug treatments.

E: A randomised control trial is used to compar the effectiveness of the drugs vs a placebo. Soomro et al. (2008) reviewed 17 of the use of SSRIs with OCD paitents and found them to be more effective than placebos in reducing the symptoms of OCD up to 3 months after treatments. however, one of the issues regarding the evaluation of this treatment is that most studies are only of 3 to 4 months duration.

E: Therefore, while during treatments have been shown to be effective in the short term, the lack of long term data is a limitation.

Question 9

Drug therapies are preffered to other treatments

Strength

PEE

Answer 9

P: One of the favoured characteristics of drugs therapies is that is requires very little input

E: For example, in contrast with CBT, it requires cooperation from the theapist and paitent. (Paitent attending meetings). Drug therapies are also more cheaper for the health service as they require little monitoring cost much less than psychological treatments.

E: These benefits means that drug therapies are more economical for the health servic than psychological theapies.

Question 10

There is evidence that indicates that drug treatments are not a lasting cure.
 No lasting cure
Limitation
Mania et al (2001)
Koran et al (2007)

Answer 10

E: Mania et al. (2001) found that paitents relapse witin a few weeks if medication is stopped. Koran et al (2007) suggest that although drug therapy may be more commonly used, psychotherapises such as CBT should be tried first.

E: This suggests that while drug theapy may require little effort and also may be relatively effective in the short term it does not provide a long lasting cure.

Question 11

Side effects

Limitation

Answer 11

P: One weakness of drug treatments for OCD is the possible side effects of drugs like SSRIs and BZs.

E: Athough evidence suggests that SSRIs are effective in treating OCD, some paitents experience mild effects like indigestion, while other might experiene more serious side effect such as hallucinations and erection problems.

E: From this we can see that the side effects diminish the effectiveness of the drug treatment as it reduce the likehood of paitents taking them

Question 12

What AO3 are you using for the biological approach for treating OCD?

Answer 12

Strengths
- Effectiveness (Soomro et al.)

• Drug therapies are preffered to other treatments.

Weaknesses
- No lasting cure limitation Mania et. al & Koran et al.

• Side effects e.g high blood pressure and erection problems