Drug Therapy

Question 1

Component: Antipsychotics

Answer 1

Treat psychotic disorders e.g. schizophrenia

Conventional Chlorpromazine = Binds to dopamine receptors and fully blocks

More side effects e.g. tardive dyskinesia

Atypical Clozapine = Temporarily occupy dopamine receptors, then dissociates to allow normal flow

Less side effects e.g. headache

Question 2

Component: Antidepressants

Answer 2

Depression = Not enough serotonin produced at synapse

Normally, serotonin reabsorbed + broken down by enzymes

Someone with depression has too little serotonin left after reuptake

Antidepressants (SSRIs) slow reuptake OR block enzyme breaking it down so more left over in synapse to build up

Question 3

Component: Antianxiety

Answer 3

BZ’s = Enhance GABA (natural anxiety relief), slowing down CNS

Betablockers = Reduce adrenaline + Bind to receptors that receive arousal, heart beats slower

Question 4

Effectiveness: Symptoms not cause

Answer 4

Affective in treating symptoms, but not underlying cause

E.g. Someone may need to resolve childhood trauma to fully cure depression

Drug therapy = Short term solution

‘Revolving Door Syndrome’ - Patient back and forth at doctors

Question 5

Effectiveness: Compared to other treatments

Answer 5

Compared to others e.g. CBT, drug therapy cheap for patient (NHS)

Practitioner invests less time in patient (Less checkups than CBT)

Faster solution (CBT waitlist 1-2 years, drug therapy soon prescribed by NHS)

Question 6

Ethics: Placebos

Answer 6

No patient should be given treatment known to be inferior

No protection from harm - Patient might not actually get better

If effective treatments exist, they should be used as control group

Question 7

Ethics: Lack of informed consent

Answer 7

Patients have difficulty remembering all side effects / Not in mind frame to digest the info

Doctors may withhold info e.g. not fully explain benefits of drug are slim / Exaggerate benefits of medication

Question 8

Aims of drug therapy

Answer 8

Aims to manipulate bodily processes to treat mental health disorders, as it’s assumed that behaviour is due to biology e.g. neurotransmitters

Drug therapy treats a wide range of illnesses (SZ, depression, anxiety)