What drug treatment is trying to do

1. Drug treatment works at the biological level, changing the chemistry of the brain so that symptoms become easier to live with.
2. Neurons pass messages to one another using neurotransmitters, chemicals released into the synapse and picked up by receptors on the next neuron.
3. A drug can change how much of a neurotransmitter is left in the synapse, or whether the next neuron can receive it at all.
4. Changing that chemical signal changes mood, thinking or craving, and that is how the symptoms are reduced.
5. Drugs manage symptoms rather than remove the cause, so difficulties can return once the medication stops.

Drugs for depression

1. Depression is linked to low activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
2. The treatment for depression is anti-depressant drugs, and the type used most often is the group known as SSRIs.
3. SSRIs are the anti-depressants that target serotonin, which is why they are chosen when low serotonin activity is thought to be part of the problem.
4. The drug acts at the synapse so that more serotonin stays available to the receiving neuron.
   1. The signal between the two neurons is therefore stronger, without the brain having to make any more serotonin.
5. That stronger signalling is thought to lift mood and ease symptoms such as low energy and loss of interest.
6. The change builds up gradually, so it usually takes some weeks before a person notices a difference.

Strengths and weaknesses of drugs for depression

1. A strength is that taking a tablet asks very little of the person, which matters when low energy is itself one of the symptoms.
2. A second strength is that it fits the genetic explanation, since Caspi et al. (2003) found a serotonin-related gene involved in whether life stress leads to depression.
3. A weakness is side effects, such as nausea or disturbed sleep, which lead some people to stop taking the medication.
4. A second weakness is that the drug treats the symptom and not the cause, so the negative thinking the cognitive explanation describes is left untouched.

Drug treatment for addiction

1. The aim in addiction is different, because here the drug is used to reduce craving and to make withdrawal manageable.
2. A substitute drug is given in place of the original substance, in a weaker, controlled and safer form.
3. Because the body is still getting something close to what it had, the withdrawal symptoms and cravings that drive the behaviour are reduced.
4. Methadone for heroin is the standard example, since methadone is taken in place of heroin under medical supervision.
5. The amount given can then be lowered in steps until the person is no longer dependent on the substitute either.
6. The substitute is working on the same neurotransmitters the substance itself acted on, so it steadies the chemistry instead of leaving the body to cope with a sudden absence.
   1. That is why the amount can be brought down slowly, since the aim is to return the chemistry to normal in steps the person can manage.
7. Drug treatment for addiction is therefore chosen to match the substance involved, because what works for heroin is not what would be given for another kind of dependence.

Strengths and weaknesses of drugs for addiction

1. A strength is that they deal with the physical side of dependence, which a talking therapy cannot do.
2. A second strength is that the drug is matched to the neurochemical imbalance it aims to change, so methadone works on the same system heroin acted on rather than on the person in general.
3. A weakness is that a substitute drug still acts on the same system, so the person may remain dependent on the substitute.
4. A second weakness is that it changes the chemistry but not the behaviours around use, so the triggers and habits are still waiting once the medication stops.

Setting drug treatment against CBT

1. The two treatments are natural opposites, because drugs treat the biology and CBT treats the thinking and the behaviour.
2. That maps straight onto the nature and nurture debate, with drug treatment on the nature side and CBT on the nurture side.
3. Drugs are faster and demand less of the person, while CBT is slower but leaves skills the person keeps.
4. The similarity worth having ready is that both aim to reduce symptoms and improve day-to-day functioning rather than to cure.
5. They are often used together, because medication can make someone well enough to use therapy and therapy can make the gains last after the medication stops.

Turning this into marks

1. A state item wants the name only, so an anti-depressant or an SSRI is the whole answer.
2. When you explain how anti-depressants reduce symptoms, take it in separate steps through the synapse rather than one general sentence.
3. The mark most often lost is writing that drugs cure depression or addiction rather than manage the symptoms.