Key Question: Drug Therapy And Addiction Flashcards
What is the key question for biological psychology?
How effective is drug therapy for treating addictions?
Why is addictions to drugs a key issue?
-1 in 11 adults ages 16-59 and 1 in 5 adults aged 16-24 reported drug use in the year ending June 2022.
-There were 4,907 registered drug poisoning deaths in 2022 and 3127 were identified as drug misuse.
-Drug use costs the NHS £10.7 billion.
-3.15% of adults in England show drug dependency.
How does heroin effect synapses?
-Reduces GABA so increased amount of dopamine.
-Effects opioid receptors in brain so represses physical pain.
-Slows motor functions so a person is more relaxed.
How can drug addiction be treated with medication?
Substitute prescribing
-giving a medication to reduce the physical effects of another drug and help avoid withdrawal symptoms.
-provides less of a high so is less addictive.
How can buprenorphine help drug addiction?
-binds to opioid receptors but is not a perfect fit so does not have all the effects of opioids (eg.euphoria).
-overtime the does of buprenorphine is reduced until it can be completely stopped.
What was Li eat al study (2013) and does it support or conflict that drug therapy is useful?
-showed that cues for heroin can effect brain functioning.
-so tells us users need more social support to get them out of a toxic environment.
-conflicting study for drug treatments.
How can being in an anonymous social club help people with addiction and is it supporting or conflicting evidence for drug therapy?
-other addicted people refuse drug treatments so focus on social groups.
-they think treatment will not work and believe the social group will have a bigger impact.
-conflicting evidence as they are not engaging with treatment so it is not effective.
Why is counselling important for those who are addicted to drugs and is it supporting or conflicting evidence for drug therapy?
-the National alliance of advocates for buprenorphine treatments say counselling is very benificail to detriment the root of why you started taking drugs.
-gets to the root of the issue not the issue itself as drugs do not cause the underlying issue so more of a chance of relapsing.
-conflicting evidence as counselling may be more effective.
How can group therapy help those who are addicted and which study can support it, is it supporting or conflicting?
-makes people feel less isolated and get inspired from seeing others kick the habit.
-supported by Alexander eat al.
-conflicting evidence.
What is Alexander at al study and what can it tell us about drug addictions?
-rats in a park chose not to have the drug water.
-addicted rats in lonely cages stopped having drug water once in the rat park.
-so being in an environment with positive social interactions you are less likely to be addicted to drugs.
How does West et al (2000) support or conflict drug therapy?
-Burphenorphrine has been shown effective to treating heroin addictions.
-supports the effectiveness of drug treatments as it can be used successfully to treat a drug addiction so subsititute prescribing is an effective treatment.
-Supporting study.
