Evaluation of Drug Therapies in Treating Psychopathology

Strengths

Effectiveness• The use of drugs are effective at treating

mental illness• WHO (2001) found that relapse rates were

lower with the use of Chlopromazine when treating Schizophrenia compared to a placebo and family interventions

• Therefore drugs play an important role

Strengths

• Ease of use• The use of drugs requires little effort from the

use in comparison to Psychological therapies• They are not time consuming and results of

using drugs are often quick

Weaknesses

• Only tackles symptoms of mental illness• Drugs only temporarily remove symptoms• When patient stops taking drugs, the

effectiveness of treating the illness stops• Therefore drugs only treat the short-term

effects and does not address the route cause of the abnormality

Weaknesses

• Side effects• All drugs have some form of side effects• SSRIs can result in anxiety, nausea and insomnia• There have been court cases where drug companies

have been responsible for not informing patients about aggressive tendencies

• Donald Schnell aged 60 killed his wife, daughter and grandaughter after taking SSRI

• Side effects can also cause patients to stop taking the medication