Download Psychological Therapies

Psychological Therapies
How can we make mentally ill people
better?
If we can’t cure them, can we at least
allow them to live relatively normal
and happy lives?
Drugs
• Antipsychotics:
– Thorazine
– Haldol
– Many others
– Generally classified as major tranquilizers.
– Largely calm psychotic symptoms in schizophrenics
– Sometimes also used as mood stabilizers in bipolar
patients.
More drugs
• Antidepressants
– SSRI: Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor
• Prozac, Zoloft
– SNRI: Seratonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake
Inhibitor
• Cymbalta, Effexor
– MAOI: MAO Inhibitor
• Nardil
– MAO is an enzyme that assists in the breakdown of
seratonin and norepinephrine
Drugs, drugs, drugs
• Mood stabilizers
– Used to control mania and bipolar disorders by
stabilizing mood swings.
– Lithium is the primary one
• Anti-anxiety / hypnotics
– Used to calm patients with high-anxiety
syndromes
– ex: Valium, Xanax, Ambien
So Many Drugs
• Stimulants
– Primarily used today to help mitigate the
symptoms of ADHD.
– ex: Adderall, Ritalin, Dexadrin, caffeine