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The Biological Approach to Treating OCD - Drug Therapy - Coggle Diagram
The Biological Approach to Treating OCD - Drug Therapy
Drugs are the most common form of biological therapy, though psychosurgery is sometimes used
Antidepressants are used to treat OCD, such as SSRI's , which elevate levels of serotonin and cause the orbital frontal cortex to function at more normal levels
The most common SSRI used in adults is fluoxetine (prozac)
For children aged 6 years , sertraline is usually prescribed and fluvoxamine for children aged 8 years and older
Treatment usually lasts from between 12 and 16 weeks
Anxiolytic drugs are also used due to their anxiety lowering properties
Antipsychotic drugs that have a dopamine lowering effect have also proven useful in treating OCD, though they are only generally given after treatment with SSRI's hasn't proved effective or incurs serious side effects
Pigott and Seay (1999) reviewed studies testing the effectiveness of drug therapies, finding SSRIs to be consistently effective in reducing OCD symptoms. While tricyclic antidepressant drug clomipramine proved slightly more effective, it had more serious side effects. This suggests that SSRI's should be given as a first attempt drug treatment and clomipramine should only be used when SSRI's have not proven effective
Julien (2007) reported that studies of SSRIs show that although symptoms do not fully disappear between 50 and 80 per cent of OCD patients improve, allowing them to live a fairly normal lifestyle, which they wouldn't be able to do without the treatment
Evaluation
Generally drugs don;t cure OCD, but reduce obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour to such a level that a normal lifestyle can be achieved
A limitation of drug therapy is the side effects that patients may experience. Loss of sexual appetite/ability is common, as is irritability, sleep pattern disturbance, headaches and loss of appetite
Antidepressant medication may be more suitable for adults, as they are more able to tolerate and understand side effects
Its not sure if drug treatments effective in treating OCD reduce obsessive symptoms or instead lessen the depressive symptoms that often accompany the condition
Drug treatments are widely used to treat the symptoms of OCD as they are relatively cheap, don't require a therapist to administer them and are a user friendly form of treatment, as people are used to taking medicines for illnesses
Some would argue that because of the risk of side effects and the tendency of antidepressants to produce heightened levels of suicidal thinking, plus the effectiveness of psychological treatments, drug treatments shouldn;t be used to treat OCD
Prevent the reuptake of serotonin and prolong its activity in the synapse in order to reduce anxiety
