Drug Therapy:
Drug therapy for mental disoders aims to increase/decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain or to increase/decrease their activity. OCD is associated with low levels of seratonin so drugs work in various ways to increase the level of seratonin in the brain.

SSRIs:
The standard drug treatment for OCD uses SSRIs - Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor. SSRIs work on the seratonin system. Seratonin is released by certain neurons in the brain. It is released by the presynaptic neurons and travels across a synapse. The neurotransmitter chemically conveys the signal from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron and then it is reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused. By preventing the re-absorption and breakdown of seratonin, SSRIs effectively increase its levels in the synapse and thus continue to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron. This compensates for whatever is wrong with the seratonin system in OCD. It takes 3-4 months of daily use for SSRIs to have much impact on symptoms.

Combining SSRIs with other treatments:
Drugs are often used alongside CBT to treat OCD. The drugs reduce a patients emotional symptoms such as feeling anxious/depressed. This means that patients can engage more effectively with CBT. In practice some people respond best to CBT alone while others benefit more from drugs.

Alternatives to SSRIs:
Where an SSRI is not effective after 3-4 months the dose can be increased or it can be combined with other drugs. Sometimes different antidepressants are tried. People respond very differently to different drugs and alternatives work well for some people and not at all for others.

Tricyclics are sometimes used such as clomipramine. These have the same effect on the seratonin system as SSRIs. Clomipramine has more severe side-effects than SSRIs so it is generally kept in reserve for patients that do not respond to SSRIs
SNRIs - Seratonin Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors. In the last 5 years a different class of antidepressant drugs called SNRIs has also been used to treat OCD. These are a second line of defence for patients that don't respond to SSRIs. SNRIs increase levels of seratonin as well as another different neurotransmitter - noradrenaline

	Created by Caitlyn Grayston over 7 years ago

AS level Psychology (Psychopathology) Note on Biological Approach to Treating OCD, created by Caitlyn Grayston on 21/05/2017.