Describe and Evaluate at Least Two Biological Treatments for Schizophrenia
Describe and evaluate at least two biological treatments for schizophrenia
Biological treatments arise from the medical model of abnormal behaviour, which considers mental disorder to be an illness of disease resulting from underlying biological factors. Most people with schizophrenia receive some form of drug therapy.
Drug therapy is the most common treatment, using antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs aims to help patient function as well as possible and increasing patient’s feelings of well being.
Researchers believe that dopamine plays an important part in schizophrenia. The goal of conventional antipsychotic drug therapy is to reduce the amount of dopamine, or the amount of dopamine receptor sites. They are dopamine antagonists in that they bind dopamine receptors and blocking their action.
Conventional drugs can reduce acute, positive symptoms ed. hallucinations. They produce the maximum benefits within the first six months of use.
Atypical antipsychotic drugs also target negative symptoms but there is some evidence that they reduce negative symptoms too. They also act on the dopamine system but are also thought to block serotonin receptors.
One way to test the effectiveness of conventional drugs is to compare the relapse rate of placebo. Davis use meta-analysis and found relapse occurred in 55% of p[patients whose drugs were replaced by placebo’s compared with a 19% relapse rate for those who stayed on antipsychotics. Davis did find that environment also play a role in relapse rate of treatment. Relapse rate of patient who stayed in a hostility and criticism family on medication were 53% compared to 92% for those under the placebo condition, whereas those living in supportive home environments there was no significant difference between the medication and placebo group.
However, ross and read argued that Davis studies are not fair comparison of treatment versus non- treatment because under the placebo condition the patient is in a drug
Biological treatments arise from the medical model of abnormal behaviour, which considers mental disorder to be an illness of disease resulting from underlying biological factors. Most people with schizophrenia receive some form of drug therapy.
Drug therapy is the most common treatment, using antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs aims to help patient function as well as possible and increasing patient’s feelings of well being.
Researchers believe that dopamine plays an important part in schizophrenia. The goal of conventional antipsychotic drug therapy is to reduce the amount of dopamine, or the amount of dopamine receptor sites. They are dopamine antagonists in that they bind dopamine receptors and blocking their action.
Conventional drugs can reduce acute, positive symptoms ed. hallucinations. They produce the maximum benefits within the first six months of use.
Atypical antipsychotic drugs also target negative symptoms but there is some evidence that they reduce negative symptoms too. They also act on the dopamine system but are also thought to block serotonin receptors.
One way to test the effectiveness of conventional drugs is to compare the relapse rate of placebo. Davis use meta-analysis and found relapse occurred in 55% of p[patients whose drugs were replaced by placebo’s compared with a 19% relapse rate for those who stayed on antipsychotics. Davis did find that environment also play a role in relapse rate of treatment. Relapse rate of patient who stayed in a hostility and criticism family on medication were 53% compared to 92% for those under the placebo condition, whereas those living in supportive home environments there was no significant difference between the medication and placebo group.
However, ross and read argued that Davis studies are not fair comparison of treatment versus non- treatment because under the placebo condition the patient is in a drug