Psychological Disorders: A Case Study
a) How could a psychological disorder (either affective or anxiety or psychotic) be treated biologically?
An affective disorder commonly treated biologically is depression. Depression is a disorder characterised by the DSM –IV with 9 symptoms, at least 5 of which must be present within a 2-week period. These symptoms include depressed mood, insomnia or hypersomnia, feelings of worthlessness and recurrent thoughts of death. To treat depression biologically, a clinician would prescribe an anti-depressant. There are different types of anti-depressant that do different things, such as controlling the uptake of certain hormones, or simply making the body produce more of them. A “first generation” type of anti-depressant is a Monoamine Oxidase …show more content…
It involves managing the avoidance of events that may trigger sadness through damaging stimuli, increasing energy levels by introducing different pleasurable and social events, teaching relaxation skills through positive imagery, developing healthy self-reinforcement, improving self-control, problem solving and decision making skills, using role-play to develop social and interpersonal relationships, and self-monitoring and evaluation of mood and activity skills. Teri et al (1997) studied the effects of using behavioural treatment to cure depression in dementia patients. They concluded that the behavioural treatment was effective in both the patients and their carers. From this, they concluded that behavioural treatment could be used as a suitable alternative to anti-depressants as a treatment for …show more content…
According to Whittington et al (2004), many Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s), have a weak or negative benefit-risk ratio. This means that the risk of taking them outweighs the benefit. This, as well as side-effects such as nausea, headaches and lowered sexual arousal, includes adverse effects, such as an increase in suicidal thoughts, and attempts at suicide. The only drug they tested that had a positive benefit-risk was Fluoxetine, suggesting that it was effective in reducing depressive symptoms without posing a risk of relapse. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the 3rd most prescribed antidepressant in the US, with nearly 15 million patients prescribed it per
An affective disorder commonly treated biologically is depression. Depression is a disorder characterised by the DSM –IV with 9 symptoms, at least 5 of which must be present within a 2-week period. These symptoms include depressed mood, insomnia or hypersomnia, feelings of worthlessness and recurrent thoughts of death. To treat depression biologically, a clinician would prescribe an anti-depressant. There are different types of anti-depressant that do different things, such as controlling the uptake of certain hormones, or simply making the body produce more of them. A “first generation” type of anti-depressant is a Monoamine Oxidase …show more content…
It involves managing the avoidance of events that may trigger sadness through damaging stimuli, increasing energy levels by introducing different pleasurable and social events, teaching relaxation skills through positive imagery, developing healthy self-reinforcement, improving self-control, problem solving and decision making skills, using role-play to develop social and interpersonal relationships, and self-monitoring and evaluation of mood and activity skills. Teri et al (1997) studied the effects of using behavioural treatment to cure depression in dementia patients. They concluded that the behavioural treatment was effective in both the patients and their carers. From this, they concluded that behavioural treatment could be used as a suitable alternative to anti-depressants as a treatment for …show more content…
According to Whittington et al (2004), many Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s), have a weak or negative benefit-risk ratio. This means that the risk of taking them outweighs the benefit. This, as well as side-effects such as nausea, headaches and lowered sexual arousal, includes adverse effects, such as an increase in suicidal thoughts, and attempts at suicide. The only drug they tested that had a positive benefit-risk was Fluoxetine, suggesting that it was effective in reducing depressive symptoms without posing a risk of relapse. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the 3rd most prescribed antidepressant in the US, with nearly 15 million patients prescribed it per