CLPSY - Treatment of Disorders from the Biological Perspective Lesson

Learning Target:

  • Summarize the effectiveness of specific treatments used to address specific problems from a biological perspective. 

AP psychology course and exam description, effective fall 2020. (n.d.). https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-course-and-exam-description.pdf

Biomedical Therapies

Biomedical therapies are those that are aimed at altering body chemistry to treat psychological disorders.Biomedical therapies are those that are aimed at altering body chemistry to treat psychological disorders. Most of the time they include the use of drugs or psychopharmacology.

  • Antipsychotics are a class of drugs used to treat psychosis and include drugs such as reserpine and chlorpromazine.
    • Typical antipsychotics are effective against the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, have uncomfortable side effects, and can globally alter dopamine levels.
    • Atypical antipsychotics are newer drugs that may also be effective against the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, affect levels of serotonin in addition to dopamine, and have uncomfortable side effects.
  • Antianxiety drugs like Valium and Xanax depress nervous system activity.
  • Antidepressants lift you out of depression by increasing the neurotransmitters norepinephrine or serotonin.
  • Lithium is a drug used to treat bipolar disorder. It can interrupt acute manic attacks and prevent relapse. It is also dangerous and must be closely monitored.
  • Electroconvulsive Therapy is a type of biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which brief electrical currents are sent through the brain of anesthetized patients.  
  • Psychosurgery is a treatment in which parts of the brain are lesioned, destroyed, or removed to help alleviate the suffering caused by psychological disorders. During a dark period of psychology's history, lobotomy, a type of psychosurgery in which an ice pick-type instrument is used to sever the frontal lobes, was used to attempt to heal a myriad of psychological issues.

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