Evaluate one biological treatment for Schizophrenia (8 Marks).
Since in the early 1950’s when dopamine was discovered, several antipsychotic drugs were produced
specifically in treating schizophrenia (SZ). FGA or Typical Antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine
was used to treat positive symptoms such as hallucination. SGA or Atypical Antipsychotic drugs such as
clozapine and risperidone attach to not just dopamine, but also serotonin and glutamate which relieves
negative symptoms of SZ such as social withdrawal. Drug treatment should be started quickly to be
effective and should be taken in the first 7 days after a psychotic episode. In addition, a patient must
avoid taking alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine to avoid a disrupt of the effect of the drug.
One strength of drug treatment is it can be applied in helping people live normally in society. For example,
the treatment from antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone reduces positive and negative symptoms for
SZ which can help patients live a “normal life”. This can help them be less marginalised from society and
create relationships by not staying in mental health institutions for a long period of time which would likely
cause them stress due to isolation. This shows that drug treatment would be an advantage for patients to
be able to function in society as well as contribute by being able to get jobs which would flourish the
economy. However, drug treatments have their risks such as in risperidone where fertility is blocked when
taking it. For example, Patel found that even if there were improvements in treating symptoms, 20% of the
patients suffered from side effects. This shows that drug treatment may hinder sz patients in functioning in
society rather than helping them.
On the other hand, research evidence is tested on animals which are not representative of humans. For
example, animals have a less complex brain than humans. Unlike human, animals cannot communicate
the pain they might experience from the drug treatment, the brain structure are also a big difference. This
shows that drug treatment is not generalisable to humans since most studies are studies on animals, and
this may cause risk to patients rather than help them since possible side effects could be unknown during
the experiment on drugs.
In addition to this, another weakness is that drug companies produce biased evidence. For example,
news articles publish findings that show positive results despite possible side effects that may affect the
patients. This is important since the lack of information from the media may cause clinicians to prescribe
the drug to patients who may respond to the treatment differently instead of treating the symptoms.
In conclusion, drug treatments such as risperidone are helpful in treating positive and negative symptoms
of SZ patients to help them live normally in society. However, drug treatment side effects may hinder them
from functioning in society, especially that most drugs are tested on animals rather than humans on which
risks, or side effects of the drug were not predicted. Also, drug companies would rather publicise the
positive effects of the drug when there could be negative effects as well.
Since in the early 1950’s when dopamine was discovered, several antipsychotic drugs were produced
specifically in treating schizophrenia (SZ). FGA or Typical Antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine
was used to treat positive symptoms such as hallucination. SGA or Atypical Antipsychotic drugs such as
clozapine and risperidone attach to not just dopamine, but also serotonin and glutamate which relieves
negative symptoms of SZ such as social withdrawal. Drug treatment should be started quickly to be
effective and should be taken in the first 7 days after a psychotic episode. In addition, a patient must
avoid taking alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine to avoid a disrupt of the effect of the drug.
One strength of drug treatment is it can be applied in helping people live normally in society. For example,
the treatment from antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone reduces positive and negative symptoms for
SZ which can help patients live a “normal life”. This can help them be less marginalised from society and
create relationships by not staying in mental health institutions for a long period of time which would likely
cause them stress due to isolation. This shows that drug treatment would be an advantage for patients to
be able to function in society as well as contribute by being able to get jobs which would flourish the
economy. However, drug treatments have their risks such as in risperidone where fertility is blocked when
taking it. For example, Patel found that even if there were improvements in treating symptoms, 20% of the
patients suffered from side effects. This shows that drug treatment may hinder sz patients in functioning in
society rather than helping them.
On the other hand, research evidence is tested on animals which are not representative of humans. For
example, animals have a less complex brain than humans. Unlike human, animals cannot communicate
the pain they might experience from the drug treatment, the brain structure are also a big difference. This
shows that drug treatment is not generalisable to humans since most studies are studies on animals, and
this may cause risk to patients rather than help them since possible side effects could be unknown during
the experiment on drugs.
In addition to this, another weakness is that drug companies produce biased evidence. For example,
news articles publish findings that show positive results despite possible side effects that may affect the
patients. This is important since the lack of information from the media may cause clinicians to prescribe
the drug to patients who may respond to the treatment differently instead of treating the symptoms.
In conclusion, drug treatments such as risperidone are helpful in treating positive and negative symptoms
of SZ patients to help them live normally in society. However, drug treatment side effects may hinder them
from functioning in society, especially that most drugs are tested on animals rather than humans on which
risks, or side effects of the drug were not predicted. Also, drug companies would rather publicise the
positive effects of the drug when there could be negative effects as well.
