Psychology
Drug Therapy
Drug therapy refers to the use of medications to treat psychological disorders. It involves prescribing drugs that can alter brain chemistry and alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, depression, or psychosis. The goal of drug therapy is to restore balance to neurotransmitters in the brain and improve the individual's overall mental health.
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7 Key excerpts on "Drug Therapy"
eBook - PDF- Ronald Comer, Elizabeth Gould, Adrian Furnham(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
The knowledge acquired is then used by clinicians, whose role is to detect, assess and treat people with psychological disorders. treatment, or therapy systematic procedures designed to change abnormal behaviour into normal behaviour. psychotherapy a treatment system in which a client and therapist use words and acts to overcome the client’s psychologi- cal difficulties. biological therapy the use of physical and chemical procedures to help people over- come psychological difficulties. Despite Frank ’s straightforward definition, clinical treat- ment is surrounded by conflict and confusion. Carl Rogers frequently expressed the opinion that therapists are not in agreement as to their goals or aims; they are not in agree- ment as to what constitutes a successful outcome of their work; they cannot agree on what constitutes a failure; and that the field seems to be completely chaotic and divided. Some clinicians view disorder as an illness and so con- sider therapy a procedure that helps cure the illness. Others see disorder as a problem in living and therapists as teachers of more functional behaviour and thought. Clinicians even differ on what to call the person who receives therapy. Those who see abnormality as an illness use the label patient, while those who view it as a problem in living refer to the client. This chapter will use both of these common terms inter- changeably. All agree therapy of some kind is necessary and will be effective to differing degrees. Treatment in the Modern Context LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1 Explain who currently receives treatment for psychological problems, how they enter treatment and what general features characterize types of treatment. Surveys suggest that more than 15% of people – children, adolescents and adults – receive therapy for psychological problems in the course of a year (NAMI, 2011). The number and variety of problems for which treatments are available have increased during the past 100 years.
eBook - PDF- John H. Evans(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
In some clinics, the relevance of the application of psychotherapy will be discussed in detail, while the additional use of drugs in a particular case, will be dealt with cursorily. The reverse applies in other clinics. It is unfortunate that comparisons of the response of children to drugs, to psychotherapy, and other treatments produce such major methodological problems that dialogue between the various proponents hardly exists. Thus, diminution of disruptive behaviour in a residential ward can be readily measured and be shown to correlate with the use of certain drugs. But one would not expect any such immediate correlation with the use of psychotherapy, which takes time to have an effect. Meanwhile, a permanent diminution of inappropriate defensive adaptations is a vaguer concept and more difficult to assess, but also more likely to correlate with intensive psycho-therapy than it is with the use of drugs. That is, one man's measurements are another man's irrelevancies. The literature on the effect of pharmacological treatment and of psychotherapeutic treatments simply discusses different matters. Psychotherapy is more concerned with life style, and drug treatment is more concerned with symptom abatement. They are two different points of departure. Furthermore, the choice of approach to treatment, although based on concern, in many cases is derived not so much from rational argument, but more the philosophy of the department, emotional reactions and local priorities. One advantage of drug treatment is that it does not involve a therapist in as much effort as other forms of therapy. It requires knowledge of the drug effects but not a great deal of knowledge of people, only of target symptoms.
eBook - PDF- Siri Carpenter, Karen Huffman(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
In other psycho-pharmacology The study of drug effects on the mind and behavior. cases, drugs have been used to relieve or suppress the symptoms of psychological disturbances even when the underlying cause was not thought to be biological. As shown in Table 14.1 , psychiatric drugs are classified into four major categories: antianxiety , antipsychotic , mood stabilizer , and antidepressant . How do drug treatments such as antidepressants actually work? Although we don’t fully understand all the mechanisms at play, some studies suggest that antidepressants increase neurogenesis (the production of new neurons), synaptogenesis Drug treatments for psychological disorders Table 14.1 Description Examples (trade names) Antianxiety drugs (also known as anxiolytics and “minor tranquilizers”) lower the sympathetic activity of the brain—the crisis mode of operation—so that anxiety is diminished and the person is calmer and less tense. However, they are potentially dangerous because they can reduce alertness, coordination, and reaction time. They also can have a synergistic (intensifying) effect with other drugs, which may lead to severe drug reactions and even death. Ativan Halcion Librium Restoril Valium Xanax Antipsychotic drugs , or neuroleptics, reduce the agitated behaviors, hallucinations, delusions, and other symptoms associated with psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. Traditional antipsy-chotics work by decreasing activity at the dopamine receptors in the brain. A large majority of patients markedly improve when treated with antipsychotic drugs. Clozaril Haldol Mellaril Navane Prolixin Risperdal Seroquel Thorazine Mood-stabilizer drugs , such as lithium, help steady the mood swings of those suffering from bipolar disorder, the condition marked by mood swings from mania to depression.
eBook - PDFDrugs and the Future
Brain Science, Addiction and Society
- David J. Nutt, Trevor W. Robbins, Gerald V. Stimson, Martin Ince, Andrew Jackson(Authors)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Now we are entering an era of multiple drug treat- ments for substance use disorders – safer alternatives to drugs, agents that block problem drug actions, substances that do both, and therapies to treat the conse- quences of substance use disorders – which 170 PHARMACOLOGY AND TREATMENTS can be administered in conjunction with greater options for psychosocial support and behavioural intervention. The next two decades could witness a dra- matic increase in the number, type, and range of effects of known psychoactive substances. Individuals may employ tailored drug regi- mens for therapy, prevention, pleasure and enhancement, and combine various types of agents to novel effect. New substances will be developed from various known and possibly novel sources such as the pharma- ceutical, chemical and other industries, aca- demic institutions, ethnobotanical sources and illicit and ‘underground’ sources. These are likely to deliver new products that will increasingly vary in chemical make-up, and potentially in quality and availability. Increased use of psychoactive drugs could be accompanied by increased sophistication in individual and societal attitudes towards alterations in consciousness, such as aspiring to optimise brain functioning. New treatments and other psychoactive agents promise expanded benefits and harms to society. The advent of effective treatments for substance use disorders will expand available interventions, and may facilitate earlier intervention in problematic drug use. Depending on social perceptions and legal policy, new treatments for substance use disorders (eg vaccines) could also raise the question of whether society is justified in imposing them in a compulsory fashion on affected individuals. The balance of risk in the use of psychoactive substances will depend on external factors (eg controls, availability) and on the properties of individ- ual agents and users.
eBook - PDF- Douglas Bernstein, , , (Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Our discussion of the psychophar-macology of medication illustrates just one way that the topic of this chapter, treatment of psychological disorders, is linked to the subfield of biological psychology, which is described in the chapter on biological as-pects of psychology. The Linkages diagram shows ties to two other subfields, and there are many more ties throughout the book. Looking for linkages among subfields will help you see how they all fit together and help you better appreciate the big picture that is psychology. LINKAGES CHAPTER 15 Treatment of Psychological Disorders CHAPTER 5 Learning CHAPTER 3 Biological Aspects of Psychology How do psychoactive medica-tions work? Can people learn their way out of a disorder? How can people manage stress? CHAPTER 12 Health, Stress, and Coping LINKAGES SUMMARY Basic Features of Treatment What features do all treatment techniques have in common? Psychotherapy is usually based on psychodynamic, humanistic, or behavioral theories of personality and behavior disorder. Many therapists employ elements of more than one approach. The bio-logical approach uses medications and other physical treatment methods. All forms of treatment include a client, a therapist, a theory of behavior disorder, a set of treatment procedures suggested by the theory, and a special relationship between the client and therapist. Therapy may be offered to inpatients and outpatients in many different settings by psychologists, psychiatrists , and other helpers. The goal of treatment is to help people change their thinking, feelings, and behavior so that they will be happier and function better. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy How did Freud get started as a therapist? Psychodynamic psychotherapy began with Freud’s psychoanalysis , which seeks to help clients gain insight into unconscious conflicts and impulses and then to explore how those factors have created disorders.
eBook - PDF- Raymond Goldberg, Pardess Mitchell(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 194 Chapter 10 Psychotherapeutic Drugs denied care by mental health clinics due to bias or discrimination. 12 Adolescents appear to be at risk for experiencing a mental disorder with rates increasing and a larger number of children and adolescents requiring pharmacological, psychotherapeutic treatments, edu-cational interventions, and a variety of other special services. 13 Worldwide, the prevalence rate for youth and adolescents suffering from a mental illness is estimated to be 13.4%. 14 Furthermore, the lifetime prevalence of any mental illness among Americans aged 13 to 18 years old is 46%. 15 Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse A relationship exists between mental disorders and substance use and abuse. The term dual diag-nosis is used to describe someone who experiences both a mental illness and a substance abuse dis-order. 16 A person with depression make take illicit drugs to alleviate the symptoms or a person who has a substance abuse disorder may develop a mental disorder due to a change in the person’s moods, thoughts, brain chemistry, or behavior. 17 Roughly one-third of people experiencing a mental illness and half of all people with a severe mental illness also experience substance abuse. 18, 19 Risk factors for the development of these disorders include being male, coming from a lower socioeconomic status, and being a military veteran. Certain drugs of abuse are most common with specific mental health disorders. Alcoholism is associated with antisocial per-sonality disorder. People with antisocial personality disorder disregard social norms and laws and act in a manner that places themselves before others.
eBook - PDF- Robert Bor, Damian McCann, Robert Bor, Damian McCann(Authors)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
The benefits of using one or both forms of therapy will depend on the patient's problem, his relationship with the practitioners and his personal preference for treat-ment. The physician will use his knowledge of medicine to determine the most suitable medication for his patient. To some extent his choice of drug will be a case of trial and error within a particular group. When counselling is used instead of or as well as medication the counsellor will aim to help the patient to deal with his problems from a psycho-logical standpoint. Counselling addresses underlying causes of dis-tress, relationship difficulties and changes of behaviour whereas medication works specifically on symptom relief. When medication and counselling are used in conjunction with each other good collaboration between the doctor and counsellor is impera-tive. If one practitioner works in isolation from the other 'splitting treat-ment can be like one person steering a car with another using the throttle with no communication between them' (Ostow, 1993: 166). In The use of psychotropic medication 199 some cases a patient may need counselling in order to benefit from medication and/or may need medication to benefit from counselling. Finally, spontaneous recovery may happen without the assistance of any kind of professional help. Key points • Input messages from the sensory organs activate neurons in the central nervous system which determine thoughts, feelings and behaviours. • Psychotropic medication affects the chemistry of the central nervous system allowing changes to thoughts, feelings and behaviours. • Counselling can change thoughts, feelings and behaviours which can affect the chemistry of the central nervous system. • Transference issues between the patient and doctor can affect the former's decision about using medication and having counselling. • The system of which the patient is a part will affect attitudes to counselling and medication.
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