1 / 24

Biomedical Therapies

Biomedical Therapies. Drug Therapy: Anti-anxiety Drugs. Also called minor tranquilizers or anxiolytics Effects: Reduces anxiety Produces calmness Reduces muscle tension Effect on GABA receptors Examples: Valium, Librium, Xanax. Drug Therapy: Antidepressants.

tomas
Download Presentation

Biomedical Therapies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Biomedical Therapies

  2. Drug Therapy: Anti-anxiety Drugs • Also called minor tranquilizers or anxiolytics • Effects: • Reduces anxiety • Produces calmness • Reduces muscle tension • Effect on GABA receptors • Examples: • Valium, Librium, Xanax

  3. Drug Therapy: Antidepressants • Increases availability of neurotransmitters • Serotonin, norepinephrine • Major types: • Tricyclics • MAO inhibitors • Selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors • Therapeutic benefits for both depression and anxiety disorders • Questionable efficacy- is it a placebo effect?

  4. Drug Therapy: Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers • Sometimes called major tranquilizers • Used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders • Many actions • Act on Serotonin, Norepinephrine and dopamine receptors • Newer drugs block the action of dopamine at receptor sites in brain. • Mood stabilizers to reduce mood swings • e.g., Lithium • Stimulants used to improve attention spans and reduce disruptive behavior in hyperactive children • e.g., Ritalin, Cylert

  5. Drug Treatment • Antipsychotic medication • Older/typical • Thorazine (chlorpromazine) • Stelazine • Mellaril • Serentil • Newer Atypical antipsychotics • Clozapine (clozaril) • Respiridone (Risperidal) • Olanzapine (Zyprexa) • Quetiapine (Seroquel) • Ziprasidone (Geodon) • Aripiprazole (Ability)

  6. Side effects of psychotropic medications? • All medication has side effects • SSRIs, DASRIs, NESRIs, etc. • Sexual side effects • Headache and Nausea • Weight gain • Can elicit mania • Antipsychotics • All of the above • Tardive dyskinesia • Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) • Alternatives or adjunctives? • Exercise • Cognitive behavior therapy • Interpersonal therapy

  7. Evaluating Psychotropic Drugs • Limitations: • May reduce or control symptoms, but not a cure • Does not teach how to resolve problems or develop necessary life skills • Risks of adverse side effects • Some drugs can lead to psychological or physical dependence. • Relapses common when taking drugs stopped • May be seen as a “quick fix” • Useful for temporary relief • Usually used in tandem with psychotherapy

  8. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) • Can produce dramatic relief from severe depression • High rates of relapse in weeks and months following treatment • May produce permanent memory loss • Many view as treatment of last resort

  9. Psychosurgery • Involves surgically altering the brain to control deviant or violent behavior • Prefrontal lobotomy a widely practiced form in the past • More sophisticated techniques have been introduced in recent years. • But still, procedures rarely used and only as a treatment of last resort

  10. Other or combination therapies

  11. Community-Based Care • Social policy of deinstitutionalization • Resulted in the back wards of many mental hospitals being vacated • Community-based mental health centers offer a variety of services. • Has deinstitutionalization been successful? • A work in progress

  12. Group Therapy • People brought together to explore and resolve problems • Advantages: • Less costly • Helps with interpersonal problems, social skills • Share coping strategies • Drawbacks: • No individual attention • Reluctance to disclose personal problems to group • Feelings of inhibition

  13. Family Therapy • Helps troubled families learn to communicate better and resolve their differences • Family, not the individual, is the unit of treatment. • Individual problems symptomatic of family system breakdown

  14. Couples Therapy • The couple is the unit of the treatment. • Goal is to build healthier relationships: • Acquire more effective communication and problem-solving skills • Resolve power struggles • Aim is to help open channels of communication between partners.

  15. Choosing a therapist

  16. Choosing a Therapist • Seek recommendations from respected sources. • Seek a referral from a local medical center or local community mental health center. • Seek consultation from college counseling center or health services • Contact professional organizations for recommendations. • Can use local Yellow Pages, but be wary. • Check for proper licensing • Ask about type of therapy being provided. • Ask about provider’s background and experience.

  17. Working with the Therapist • Discuss diagnosis and treatment plan before committing. • Ask about costs and insurance. • Find out about policies for missed or canceled sessions. • If medication is to be prescribed, inquire about delay, side effects. • Openly discuss concerns about treatment. • Request a second opinion if in doubt. • Be wary of online therapy services.

  18. But, is therapy effective? • Yes and no… • General statistic is that people in therapy show 80% more improvement than those in control group • Pharmacologicals are more questionable • Current studies suggest many antidepressant effects may be placebo • Even if placebo- works! • Still, at what cost to system?

  19. Effectiveness of Psychotherapy

  20. Examples of Empirically Supported Treatments

  21. Nonspecific Factors Accounting for the Benefits of Psychotherapy • Interpersonal relationship with therapist • Therapeutic alliance • Expectation of improvement • Self-fulfilling prophecy • Placebo or expectancy effects

  22. Multicultural Issues • Psychotherapy designed around Americans of Western European descent. • How does it work for: • African Americans • Asian Americans • Hispanic Americans • Native Americans

  23. Conclusions • Psychology is a huge and diverse discipline • We are like biology and medicine combined • Not separate out basic research from practice • Perhaps this is a good thing • We are a very young science • Don’t know very much • We are learning more by leaps and bounds

  24. The Future • We have made tremendous gains in our first 100 years • We have a long way to go • It is up to you: • Become a psychologist • Become a researcher • Support Brain Science efforts • Be a good consumer of psychological services • It is cool to be a brain scientist!!!

More Related