| Psychopharmacotherapy is the use of medications in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. These medications are frequently referred to as psychoactive or psychotropic medications. The medications used in psychopharmacotherapy are usually prescription medications.
Most psychoactive/psychotropic medications are developed for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. However, some medications developed for other purposes have been found to be helpful in psychiatric disorders. For instance, anticonvulsant medications, developed for the treatment of seizure disorders, have also been found to be helpful in managing bipolar mood disorders.
There are five major classifications of therapeutic psychoactive/psychotropic medications commonly used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Antipsychotic drugs (neuroleptics or major tranquilizers) help manage psychotic symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that aren't there), delusions (false beliefs), and disorganized thinking. They also calm and sedate the individual, but may slow thought processes and motor activity. Anxiolytic sedatives decrease levels of anxiety and agitation. Antimanic agents decrease levels of agitation, increased motor and mental activity, and delusions seen in mania. Antidepressants reduce depression and improve mood. Psychostimulants increase levels of alertness and are useful in treating attention deficit disorder (ADD, ADHD) and similar conditions.
Psychopharmacotherapy may be used alone or in conjunction with talk therapy (psychotherapy) to help reduce the negative symptoms of anxiety, depression, mania, psychosis, and other psychiatric disorders. Patients with eating disorders also benefit from combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, while other conditions such as social phobia respond better to pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy done separately. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| Psychiatric drugs are most commonly used to treat anxiety, depression, mania, psychosis, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Psychopharmacotherapy is designed to ease the symptoms of mental distress, either by correcting a biochemical imbalance or by giving the individual more energy to address the underlying conflicts that produced the symptoms. Psychopharmacotherapy can be life-saving in situations of suicidal depression or manic-depression. Medications may be used to improve or stabilize moods, decrease or suppress hallucinations and thought disorders, calm anxiety or agitation, improve memory, increase energy and alertness, and moderate hyperactivity. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| Medications must be prescribed by a psychiatrist or other licensed physician. Any individual receiving medications should be followed by a physician to ensure that the medication is having the desired effect and that there are no unmanageable side effects. Most psychotropic medications are administered by mouth, but some can be given by injection into a muscle. The duration of effect depends on the type of medication it is. Antianxiety and antipsychotic medications can have an effect within a few minutes or a few hours, while some antidepressants may not reach their full effect for several weeks. Changes in dosages or medication schedules may be necessary, depending upon the individual's response.
Antidepressants are the primary pharmacological treatment for major depression. There are several classes of antidepressants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are the two main classes. While they are equally effective they have different side effect profiles. Tricyclic antidepressants are better in terms of cost and the fact that blood levels can be used to check for compliance; however if a suicidal individual takes an overdose of a TCA, he or she can die. While not fatal in an overdose, SSRIs are more expensive, cannot be followed with blood levels, and can lower the sexual libido. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) can be used to treat refractory major depression when other treatment options have failed. They are often a last resort because of the unfavorable side effect of hypertensive crisis if the patient ingests certain combinations of foods and medications.
The administration of some medications, such as the mood stabilizer lithium or the antipsychotic clozapine, must include regular blood tests to determine that the blood level of the medication is within a therapeutic range, as excessive blood levels may lead to potentially life-threatening side effects. In many instances, an individual may need more than one psychotropic medication to achieve the desired effect. The method of how to select and combine psychotropic medications for optimum effect is monitored best by an appropriately trained psychiatrist. When the individual is receiving psychotherapy from a licensed professional analyst or therapist rather than from a treating psychiatrist, medications should be administered and monitored by a psychiatrist not involved in the talk therapy. Individuals receiving psychopharmacotherapy usually do so on an outpatient basis, unless their symptoms, such as psychosis or suicidal tendencies, are severe enough to require hospitalization. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| Many individuals achieve full recovery from their symptoms with the administration of appropriate medications. In some instances, such as acute depression, medications can be discontinued after a period of time and will not need to be reinstated as long as the individual's symptoms are absent. In other instances, such as chronic depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, medication therapy may need to be continued for as long as symptoms are present, which may be lifelong. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| All medications have potential side effects, ranging from fairly mild effects, such as indigestion, nausea or dry mouth, to severe allergic reactions or potentially serious effects such as depressed bone marrow cell production. Some undesirable effects of psychotropic medications are related to the mechanism of action of the drug. For example, antipsychotic drugs produce their calming effect by slowing thought processes and motor activity. Antidepressants may bring out manic tendencies in individuals with bipolar disorder. Side effects vary among individuals, and many side effects subside within the first few weeks of taking the medication. When an individual receives prescription medications from a pharmacy, the medication is usually accompanied by written instructions which include a list of commonly encountered side effects as well as potentially severe side effects for that medication.
Complications may be avoided to some extent by not prescribing multiple medications at once (polypharmacy), by not exceeding the dose of the antipsychotic needed to control symptoms, and by an appropriate dosage schedule. Any physician prescribing psychoactive drugs should be aware of all other medications taken by the individual, as well as use of alcohol, recreational drugs, and supplements, and should actively communicate with other medical providers. Alcohol and recreational drug use should be discouraged, and may require withdrawal of psychopharmacotherapy if they are not discontinued.
Some psychotherapists feel that administration of psychoactive drugs may interfere with the psychoanalytic process. In some cases, this problem can be resolved by having a separate psychiatrist prescribe and monitor medications. However, in some cases, relief of anxiety, depression, or other psychiatric symptoms by psychoactive drugs may interfere with the individual's motivation to address underlying psychological needs. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| Any work modification will be based on the specific psychiatric illness, as well as any side effects of drug treatment. Depending upon the underlying disorder, work accommodations may include modifying the work space to decrease noise and visual distractions; introducing the individual to new or stressful situations gradually under appropriate supervision and support; providing flexibility in work schedule for medical or psychiatric appointments; allowing break time according to individual needs rather than a fixed schedule; providing praise and positive reinforcement; and reducing or eliminating activities requiring constant and high levels of alertness, such as driving or operating machinery. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
| Ameringen, Michael Van, and Catherine Mancini. "Pharmacotherapy of Social Anxiety Disorder At the Turn of the Millennium." Psychiatric Clinics of North America 24 4 (2001): 783-803.Aronson, Sarah C. "Depression." eMedicine. Eds. Barry I. Liskow, et al. 29 Mar. 2005. Medscape. 23 May 2005 <emedicine.com/med/topic532.htm>. Desai, Abhilash. "Use of Psychopharmacologic Agents in the Elderly." Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 19 4 (2003): 697-719. Janicak, Philip G. Principles and Practice of Psychopharmacotherapy. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2001. Mitchell, James, et al. "Combining Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Patients With Eating Disorders." Psychiatric Clinics of North America 24 2 (2001): 315-323. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor
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