Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Biomedical Therapies607Biomedical TherapiesKey Theme• The biomedical therapies are medical treatments for the symptoms ofpsychological disorders and include medication and electroconvulsivetherapy.Key Questions• What medications are used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia, anxiety,bipolar disorder, and depression, and how do they achieve their effects?• What is electroconvulsive therapy, and what are its advantages anddisadvantages?Medical treatments for psychological disorders actuallypredate modern psychotherapy by hundreds of years. Inpast centuries, patients were whirled, soothed,drenched, restrained, and isolated—all in an attempt toalleviate symptoms of psychological disorders. Today,such “treatments” seem cruel, inhumane, and useless.Keep in mind, however, that these early treatments werebased on the limited medical knowledge of the time. Asyou’ll see in this section, some of the early efforts totreat psychological disorders did eventually evolve intotreatments that are widely used today.For the most part, it was not until the twentieth centurythat effective biomedical therapies were developed to treatthe symptoms of mental disorders. Today, the most commonbiomedical therapy is the use of psychotropicmedications—prescription drugs that alter mentalfunctions and alleviate psychological symptoms. Althoughoften used alone, psychotropic medicationsare increasingly combined with psycho therapy(Brown & others, 2005; Thase & Jindal, 2004).Antipsychotic MedicationsFor more than 2,000 years, traditional practitionersof medicine in India used an herb derivedfrom the snakeroot plant to diminish the psychotic symptoms commonly associatedwith schizophrenia: hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thoughtprocesses (Bhatara & others, 1997). The same plant was used in traditional Japanesemedicine to treat anxiety and restlessness (Jilek, 1993). In the 1930s, Indianphysicians discovered that the herb was also helpful in the treatment of high bloodpressure. They developed a synthetic version of the herb’s active ingredient, calledreserpine.Reserpine first came to the attention of American researchers as a potential treatmentfor high blood pressure. But it wasn’t until the early 1950s that Americanresearchers became aware of research in India demonstrating the effectiveness ofreserpine in treating schizophrenia (Frankenburg, 1994).It was also during the 1950s that French scientists began investigating thepsychoactive properties of another drug, called chlorpromazine. Like reserpine, chlorpromazinediminished the psychotic symptoms commonly seen in schizophrenia.Hence, reserpine and chlorpromazine were dubbed antipsychotic medications. Becausechlorpromazine had fewer side effects than reserpine, it nudged out reserpineas the preferred medication for treating schizophrenia-related symptoms. Since then,Historical Treatments for Mental IllnessTop left: Found in Peru, this pre-Columbianskull shows the results of primitive surgeryon the brain, called trephining, presumablyas a treatment to allow evil spirits to leavethe body. Left: A “tranquilizing chair” wasdeveloped in the early 1800s to restrainand sedate unmanageable patients. Above:An early treatment apparatus called the“circulating swing” involved spinningpatients.In 2005, psychotropic medications out -sold all other categories of medicinesin the United States, accounting for$28.7 billion in sales.—NDC HEALTH, 2005psychotropic medications(sy-ko-TRO-pick) Drugs that alter mentalfunctions, alleviate psychological symptoms,and are used to treat psychological ormental disorders.antipsychotic medications(an-tee-sy-KOT-ick or antī-sī-KOT-ick)Prescription drugs that are used to reducepsychotic symptoms; frequently used in thetreatment of schizophrenia; also calledneuroleptics.