Describe and evaluate the biological approach to the treatment of OCD. This is essentially a full 16-mark question which is all you need for the exam, you can also use it to answer all 4,6,8, 12 mark questions in the exam all you have to do is break it down.
describe and evaluate the biological approach to the treatment of ocd
biological approach to the treatment of ocd
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Describe and evaluate the biological approach to the treatment of OCD.
(16 marks).
The biological treatments to OCD aims to increase or decrease levels of neurotransmitter in
the brain, such as low levels of serotonin are associated with OCD or to increase decrease
their activity.
Antidepressants are the standard medical treatment for treating OCD, particular type of
antidepressant drug is a SSRI.SSRIs prevent the reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in
the brain. They increase the serotonin in the synapse and this results in more serotonin
continuing to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron, reducing symptoms of OCD. A typical
dosage of Fluoxetine (SSRI) is 20mg this can be increased if it not effective for the patient
and it takes up to 3-4 months for it to impact upon symptoms.
Drugs (SSRIS) are often also used alongside with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to treat
OCD. These drugs reduce a patient’s emotional symptoms such as depression and anxiety,
meaning patients can engage more effectively with CBT.
If an SSRI is ineffective after 3-4 months sometime alternative antidepressants are used to
treat OCD. Tricyclics such as Clomipramine are used, they have the same effect on the
serotonin system as SSRIS but the side effects are much more severe. Or SNRIS are used like
Clomipramine they are second alternative if SSRIS are ineffective they increase serotonin as
well as noradrenaline.
A strength of biological treatments for OCD is they are cost-effective. Biological treatments,
including anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs, are relatively cost effective in comparison
to psychological treatments, like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), they are also non-
disruptive to patients lives. Thus, many doctors prefer the use of drugs over psychological
treatments, they are also beneficial for health service providers who are able to offer more
treatments, as money is saved with biological treatments to OCD.
Another strength of biological treatments for OCD is that its effective at tackling OCD
symptoms. For example, Soomro et al. (2009) conducted a review of the research examining
the effectiveness of SSRIs and found that SSRIs were more effective than placebos in the
treatment of OCD, in 17 different trials. This supports the use of biological treatments,
especially SSRIs, for OCD as typical symptoms declined for around 70% of patients taking
SSRIS. Thus, this is a strength for the biological treatment for OCD as these findings suggests
these drugs therapies are effective as they can help most patients with OCD.
A limitation of the biological treatment to OCD is side effects. For example, some patients
taking drugs such as SSRI experience side effects such as indigestion, while some experience
more serious side effects like blurred vision and hallucinations. Clomipramine is renowned
for making people more aggressive and suffer disruption to heart rhythms and blood
pressure. Therefore, this is a limitation to the biological treatment to OCD as these side
effects reduce the effectiveness of drug treatments, as patients will often stop taking
medication if they experience these side effects.
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