Outline and Evaluate One Biological Therapy for Schizophrenia

The main form of biological therapy for schizophrenia is drug therapy. Some drugs argon more effective at reducing the authoritative symptoms such as delusions and hallucination than prohibit symptoms such as lack of motivation and accessible withdrawal. There atomic number 18 two main categories of drugs, neuroleptic drugs and atypical drugs. neuroleptic agent drug drugs such as Prolixin be conventional drugs that reduce psychotic symptoms barely produce some of the symptoms of neurological diseases. These drugs block the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine at heart 48 hours and their effect on dopamine are believed to be very(prenominal) important in therapy.However it involves several weeks of drug therapy before schizophrenic symptoms register substantial reduction. These drugs are more effective in reducing positive symptoms than negative symptoms. This is supported by Birchwood and Jackson 2001 whose conclusion was the same. These drugs appear to be a more ef fective treatment for schizophrenia than any of the otherwise approaches used alone. (Comer 2001) Researches wee-wee shown that patients evoke get independent to drugs which means they exponent not be able to stop taking them otherwise they expertness have to face serious problems. Neuroleptic drugs also have expression effects.Windgassen 1992 lay out 50% of patients with schizophrenia who take neuroleptic drugs reported daze or sedation, 18% reported problems with concentration, and 16% had blurred vision. In attachment many patients developed symptoms closely resembling those of Parkinsons disease such as muscle rigidity, tremors and foot shuffling. Also it was found that more than 20% of patients who take neuroleptic drugs for over a year develop the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia. These symptoms involve involuntary sucking and chewing and writhing movements of the mouth or face.Atypical neuroleptic agent drugs (such as clozapine) also combat positive symptoms of schi zophrenia entirely on that point are claims that they also have beneficial effects on negative symptoms as thoroughly. These antipsychotics also act on the dopamine system but are thought to block serotonin receptors in the brain as well. They help by only temporarily occupying the dopamine receptors and then apace dissociating to allow normal dopamine transmission. Atypical drugs have several advantages over neuroleptic drugs. Firstly they have fewer side effects than neuroleptic drugs.Secondly they benefit 85% of patients with schizophrenia, compared with 65% given neuroleptic drugs. However, the atypical drugs flush toilet produce serious side effects. For example, schizophrenic patients who take clozapine have a 1-2% risk of developing agranulocytosis. This involves reduction in white crease cells, and the condition can be life threatening. Although the use of antipsychotic drugs is life-or-death in the treatment of schizophrenia, many people do not figure the benefits t hey offer, normally due to their side effects.As a result, additional psychological treatments are used. The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) follows the assumption that people much have warp beliefs which influence their behaviour in maladaptive ways. In this therapy, patients are back up to trace back the origins of their symptoms in order to get a improve idea of how the symptoms might have developed. As well as this, they are also encouraged to evaluate the content of their delusions to consider ways in which they might test the validity of their faulty beliefs.Next the patients would be given behavioural assignments with the aim of improving their general level of functioning. The learning of maladaptive responses to lifes problems is often the result of distorted thinking by the schizophrenic. Researches over time kindle that CBT has a significant effect on improving the symptoms of patients with schizophrenia, however the mass of studies of the effectiveness of CBT h ave used schizophrenics who are also taking antipsychotic drugs. This leaves the question, how much of the improvement is due to CBT alone?Also, CBT for schizophrenia works by nerve-racking to generate less distressing explanations of psychotic experiences, rather than trying to eliminate them completely. The negative symptoms shown by a schizophrenic may well serve a useful function for the person and so can be understood as safety behaviours and could cause potential damage. Lastly, it has been found that CBT doesnt actually work for all Schizophrenics, Kingdon and Kirschen found that many patients were not deemed fit for CBT because psychiatrists believed that they would not fully engage with the therapy.