Biological therapy

  1. The biological approach to treating schizophrenia involves drug therapy.

  2. Treatment is based on the dopamine hypothesis (p.179) - the theory that schizophrenia is linked to increased dopamine activity in the brain. Antipsychotic drugs (neuroleptics) work by blocking dopamine receptors.

  3. There are two types of antipsychotics - typical and atypical.

  4. Typical antipsychotics were developed in the 1950s. Although they are still used to treat schizophrenia today, they are less widely used due to their side effects. This is because they mainly appear to treat only the positive symptoms and their side effects can be severe. muscle spasms or cramps and tremors. These side effects include dry mouth, blurred vision, dizziness,

  5. Whilst typical antipsychotics act upon dopamine receptors, atypical antipsychotics act on both serotonin and dopamine receptors.

  6. Nowadays, people are most often prescribed atypical antipsychotic drugs instead. They were developed in the 1950s and introduced in the 1970s as a result of the adverse side effects of typical antipsychotics.

  7. Atypical antipsychotics can treat both positive and negative symptoms, but they can have severe side effects too.

Advantages:

  • Drug therapy is more effective at reducing positive symptoms, e.g. hallucinations.

  • It's successful for a large number of patients with schizophrenia, meaning that more people can live in the community rather than being institutionalised.

  • It's the most widely used and effective form of treatment for schizophrenia.
    Almost all other treatments are used alongside drug therapy.

Disadvantages:

  • Drug therapy isn't very effective for treating negative symptoms like social withdrawal.

  • There are ethical issues surrounding the use of drug therapy. Some people argue that drug treatment is a 'chemical straitjacket' — it doesn't really help the patient, it just controls their behaviour to make it more socially acceptable and easier to manage.

  • Most people will experience some short-term side effects when taking antipsychotic drugs, e.g. drowsiness, blurred vision, dry mouth, constipation and weight gain.

  • Long-term side effects include an increased risk of diabetes and tardive dyskinesia (involuntary repetitive movements that continue even after they've stopped taking the medication).

  • Clinical trials have shown that as many as two-thirds of people stop taking antipsychotic drugs because of the side effects. However, newer antipsychotic drugs seem to have fewer long-term side effects than the older ones.

  • It treats the symptoms of schizophrenia but not the cause. Symptoms often come back if people stop taking antipsychotic drugs. This leads to the 'revolving door phenomenon', where patients are constantly being discharged and re-admitted to hospital.