Combining Treatments in Psychiatric Illness

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's February 2008

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Discuss the advantages and disadvantage of combining drug treatment and psychological treatments in the management of a psychiatric illness.

Although there is a long traditional in medicine, stretching back to Hippocrates, which views the mind and body as inextricably linked, the scientific approach to medicine has tended to focus on the physical to the exclusion of psychological components of illness. Psychiatric illness is different from community medicine. Psychiatric illness is mainly the cure of personality and psychological change. There are two types of psychiatry, the Organic Mental Disorder and the Functional Disorder. Depression, Schizophrenia, Anxiety, Alzheimer?s disease falls into the category of the psychiatric illnesses.

Psychology methods are part of all psychiatric treatments, in some cases used alone, in others combined with drugs. Psychological treatments can help you if you are suffering from anxiety, panic, obsession, phobias, some forms of depression and other less serious illness in which you do not lose touch with reality and are able to examine.

Depression is common in primary care and affects many people. The NSF gives figures of more than 100 depressed patients per GP list, but says that 50% of these patients may be unrecognized. 1 Depression is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. 2 In addition, patients with depression are much likely to die before the age of 70. Some commentators say depression may impair function and well being as much as diabetes.

3 Three studies found that most patients preferred to receive psychotherapy rather than drug treatment. 3 The first study indicates that 1 of the 27 patients thought unequivocally that antidepressant drugs had helped them. 3 Second study shows that some others thought they help but only in the short-term. 3 The final studies states that the majorities of patients were critical of drugs and felt ?fobbed off?.