Posted by psychobot5000 on October 30, 2007, at 21:20:14
In reply to Re: Psychopharmacology Pros and Cons, posted by AJeffriesXIX on October 23, 2007, at 22:53:26
> I posted for two reasons. One for myself and another for school.
>
> Recently, my daughter died and I was posting for depression and or anxiety. I don't know what this is really and I can't seem to pull myself out of it.
>
> Secondly, I am working on my masters degree in psychology and the topic has come up in my Biological Psych class. And I was looking for and doing research on the topic and thought I'd post to see what I could come up with for my paper.___
I think the pros and cons vary considerably depending on the disorder - for some they're more effective than others. Since you have depression/anxiety issues, I'll try to address that.Pros: significant chance (maybe 30-50% chance on the first drug trial...the numbers are controversial) the drugs will help patients better.
Ease of treatment (taking a pill is easier, more convenient and less time-consuming than getting ECT or going in for talk-therapy)
Drugs may help patients when other treatments (like CBT or other therapy) are not effective.
Often if one med doesn't work out for various reasons, a second or third med will.
______________________Cons: Drugs may not help you, or may not help as much as you'd like them to
Side effects are frequently a problem - each med has its own profile, but they can cause sedation, digestive problems, sex problems, heart problems, difficulty sleeping, etc. It varies person to person, but sometimes finding a med that has an acceptable side-effect profile can be difficult.
Drugs usually take several weeks (perhaps 2-8) to have a positive effect
Some of the second, third or fourth-line agents can conceivably cause dependence (stimulants like amphetamine or methylphanidate; benzodiazepines).
Long term safety and side-effects are not completely known
A few of the agents have other health risks, like possible liver damage. These tend to be used much more rarely, though - the most popular drugs are usually considered relatively safe, as far as I know.
Researchers still don't understand very well why these drugs work (but they do work!).
___________________________I don't want to put you off with the long list of cons - I haven't had a serious health risk, and as for me personally, the meds help.
...I hope that's useful in some way.
poster:psychobot5000
thread:790996
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071027/msgs/792417.html