Psychological Therapies

How can we make mentally ill people better?

If we can’t cure them, can we at least allow them to live relatively normal

and happy lives?

Drugs• Antipsychotics:

– Thorazine

– Haldol

– Many others

– Generally classified as major tranquilizers.

– Largely calm psychotic symptoms in schizophrenics

– Sometimes also used as mood stabilizers in bipolar patients.

More drugs• Antidepressants

– SSRI: Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor• Prozac, Zoloft

– SNRI: Seratonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor

• Cymbalta, Effexor

– MAOI: MAO Inhibitor• Nardil

– MAO is an enzyme that assists in the breakdown of seratonin and norepinephrine

Drugs, drugs, drugs

• Mood stabilizers– Used to control mania and bipolar disorders by

stabilizing mood swings.– Lithium is the primary one

• Anti-anxiety / hypnotics– Used to calm patients with high-anxiety

syndromes– ex: Valium, Xanax, Ambien

So Many Drugs

• Stimulants– Primarily used today to help mitigate the

symptoms of ADHD.

– ex: Adderall, Ritalin, Dexadrin, caffeine