V. Biomedical Therapy
Biomedical therapies include drug therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychosurgery. Drug Therapies Drug therapy, or psychopharmacology, aims to treat psychological disorders with medications. Drug therapy is usually combined with other kinds of psychotherapy. The main categories of drugs used to treat psychological disorders are antianxiety drugs, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. Antianxiety Drugs Antianxiety drugs include a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, or tranquilizers. Two commonly used benzodiazepines are known by the brand names Valium and Xanax. The generic names of these drugs are diazepam and alprazolam, respectively:
Antidepressant Drugs Antidepressants usually take a few weeks to have an effect. There are three classes of antidepressants: monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclics, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Antipsychotic Drugs Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. They include chlorpromazine (Thorazine), thioridazine (Mellaril), and haloperidol (Haldol). Antipsychotic drugs usually begin to take effect a few days after they are administer ed.
Lithium One drug used in the treatment of bipolar disorders is lithium. Effects: Lithium prevents mood swings in people with bipolar disorders. Researchers have suggested that lithium may affect the action of norepinephrine or glutamate. Side effects: Lithium can cause tremors or long-term kidney damage in some people. Doctors must carefully monitor the level of lithium in a patient’s blood. A level that is too low is ineffective, and a level that is too high can be toxic. Discontinuing lithium treatment abruptly can increase the risk of relapse. Recently developed alternatives to lithium include the drugs carbamazepine (Tegretol) and divalproex (Depakote). Criticisms of Drug Therapies Drug therapies are effective for many people with psychological disorders, especially for those who suffer from severe disorders that cannot be treated in other ways. However, drug therapies have been criticized for several reasons:
Electroconvulsive Therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used mainly for the treatment of severe depression. Electrodes are placed on the patient’s head, over the temporal lobes of the brain. Anesthetics and muscle relaxants help minimize discomfort to the patient. Then an electric current is delivered for about one second. The patient has a convulsive seizure and becomes unconscious, awakening after about an hour. The typical number of ECT sessions varies from six to twenty, and they are usually done while a patient is hospitalized. ECT is a controversial procedure. Research suggests that there are short-term side effects of ECT, such as attention deficits and memory loss. Critics of ECT believe that it is often used inappropriately and that it can result in permanent cognitive problems. Proponents of ECT, however, believe that it does not cause long-term cognitive problems, loss of memory, or brain damage. They believe that it is highly effective and that it is underused because of negative public ideas surrounding it. Psychosurgery Psychosurgery is brain surgery to treat a psychological disorder. The best-known form of psychosurgery is the prefrontal lobotomy. A lobotomy is a surgical procedure that severs nerve tracts in the frontal lobe. Surgeons performed lobotomies in the 1940s and 1950s to treat highly emotional and violent behavior. The surgery often resulted in severe deficits, including apathy, lethargy, and social withdrawal. Lobotomies are now rarely performed, but some neurosurgeons perform cingulotomies, which involve destruction of part of the frontal lobes. These surgeries are usually performed on patients who have severe depressive or anxiety disorders and who do not respond to other treatments. The effectiveness of these surgeries is unclear. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a recently developed, noninvasive procedure. It involves stimulating the brain by means of a magnetic coil held to a person’s skull near the left prefrontal cortex. It is used to treat severe depression. |
Vocabulary to Know
Psychopharmacology Benzodiazepines SSRI's Tardive Dyskinesia Lithium Anti-anxiety drugs Anti-depressant drugs Anti-Psychotic drugs ECT Psychosurgery Lobotomy Cingulotomy Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Quizlet |
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