The Use of Psychotropics in Psychotherapy - Essay Example

Mental disorders have been a phenomenon experienced by humanity over a long period of time. The work of Hippocrates who lived about 400 Bc quotes the cause and treatment of mental illness. A long time ago, mental illness was thought to originate from external forces from a deity of from possession by evil spirits. Hippocrates was against this idea and argued that mental illness originated from biological illness in the brain rather than originating from these external causes. He gave a light to psychotherapy in his writing ‘on the sacred disease'.

Psychotropic refers to any drug that causes effects to the brain. This kind of drug change the perception of ideas by the brain, affects the emotional characteristic of a person as well as the behavior of the individual. Psychotherapy refers to the diagnosis of disorders associated with the brain. In diagnosis, psychotherapy involves close interactions between the patients and the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist helps the patient to analyze their problem, how to control emotions, how to contain their thinking and their behavior. Mental treatment approaches may be divided into various groups which include humanistic therapy, cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamics just to mention a few.

The idea of nootropics is attributed to professor Giurgea. The science of the use of psychotropic drugs in psychotherapy can be dated back to the 1950s. This is the period in which the neuroleptics were widely used. Antidepressants were widely used in the 1960s while anxiolytics were practiced during the late 1970s. The newest form of psychotropic drugs in the recent world includes the nootropics. Piracetam is the wide classification of nootropics. However, this classification has been constantly questioned by the conventional psychopharmacology community. It has been noted that piracetam lacks the toxic effect of the normal psychotropic.

Piracetam is used in most parts of the world. However, it is not practiced in the United states of America. Most American firms question its efficacy and therefore prefer manufacturing their own type of psychotropic drug. Firms in the United States are currently manufacturing nootropiclike compounds. Despite criticism by various parties, the use of piracetam is widely being used globally

Psychotropic substances are extracted from the roots of a plant known as the Polygalae tenuifolia. In its extraction, a fraction of the extract that exhibit antipsychotic effects are used. There are a number of steps involved in its isolation. The key method is the use of multiple chromatographies in line with the intensive study of the animal model for these drugs. The extract can also be obtained through evaporation method. This process is simple and easy to carry out. Some roots from polygalae tenuifolia are crushed using a clean motor and pestle while adding controlled volumes of alcohol. The mixture is then poured into an evaporation dish and left to dry leaving behind the extract. However, more complex and accurate extraction methods are used in the laboratories.

Psychotropic diseases are used in medicine to treat mental disorders among the children, adolescent, the young and the elderly in the community. The widely used drugs include the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants for depression and the chlorpromazine to diagnose psychosis. However, other drugs have been used in the USA in the treatment of related disorders such as the anxiety disorders, affective disorders, and drug addiction disorders. These new generation drugs include the selective serotonins reuptake inhibitors and the atypical antipsychotics.

Surveys have been conducted on the clinical prescription of the psychotic substances in the USA and in Australia. In early childhood, mental disorders include the separation anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, social phobia disorder, autism disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. For the case of anxiety disorders, cognitive-behavioral therapy is practiced to treat disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorders. For mood disorders, lithium and antiepileptic prescriptions are used in children and the teens. In the case of post-traumatic stress disorders, trauma-focused cognitive therapy is practiced. Selective serotonins reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) can also be used for children and the teenagers who are still in school.

Atomoxetine is used to treat the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Other treatments include the use of alpha agonists such as clonidine and the use of stimulants such as mixed amphetamine salts. Atypical antipsychotic agents such as risperidone may be used. Citalopram is used to treat depression while ramelteon is used to diagnose sleep problems in children. Anticonvulsant mood stabilizers are used to correct mood disorders.

Psychotropic treatment in adults is not much different from that in children and adolescents. In the case of mood disorder in adults, the second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are practiced. For the case of anxiety disorders, the SSRIs are practiced in adults. However, for post-traumatic stress disorders in grown ups and the elderly, the trauma-focused cognitive therapy is practiced here.

There are a number of side effects of these drugs used in medication. These effects include excessive weight gain in adults and children. Weight gain comes with other complexities that lead to an emergence of new diseases. Restlessness is also associated with this medication. Drowsiness, dry mouth, and vomiting are also side effects associated with psychotropic substances. Other adverse results after use of these drugs include prolonged constipation.

In broad terms, diabetes may result from excessive use of psychiatric prescriptions. Other side effects include tremors, akathisia, and dystonia. It is, therefore, advisable to seek physician advice before practicing the use of any of these drugs. In the case of serious health issues, it is good to take these substances under the watchful eye of a clinician or a psychiatrist.

Other uses of the brain-altering substances include the religious/ cultural uses. A good example of this use is the use of the ‘forgetfulness drug' used by gods of ancient Hindu. This drug is mentioned in the Odyssey. The drug was used by the gods to make people forget the past and maybe forget their traumatizing experiences. From a scientific point of view, the drugs must have caused some alternation in the brain to induce individuals to forget. These drugs must, therefore, have been psychotropic substances.

In another situation, the Mazatec people of Mexico used the worlds most famous mushroom (fly agaric) in most of their rituals. This information is contained in the book of R. Gordon ‘Amanita muscaria". The Mazatec people of Mexico used this mushroom as a hallucinogenic agent. Other similar cases include the case in Persia. The religious texts of Zoroastrianism and the Avesta, They used the plant soma as a psychotropic drug. They believed that whoever was conversant with the identity of this plant had the power to effectively communicate to their deities. The gods also used portions of this plant in order to perform their supernatural rituals. A considerable population of the Hindu and Persia believed that whoever drunk soma became immortal.

In the year 1730, the Koryak people of Kamchatka region in Siberia also practiced the use of this mushroom. They believed that the urine from a person who was drunk with this plant would make other people drunk. They believed that this urine contained the drug substances until it was used up to five cycles. i.e a person would drink urine from the initial consumer of this drug and get drunk. This person urine would then be drunk by another person and get drunk too all the way to the fifth cycle. The poor who could not afford to grow of these mushrooms used to carry bows and place them in the urination points of the rich, carry the urine happily and they drunk it over and become drunk too. This unusual behavior by these people is an evidence of psychotropic influence. However, the people never considered as drug abuse, it was their culture, their way of life.

Some of the psychotropic drugs are used for pleasure especially among the youths. This is due to their characteristic of causing the mental and physical alteration in the body. Consequently, these drugs have ended up being abused. People use these drugs to forget problems, to forget traumatizing experiences and depression. Some use them to enhance performance and to spend long hours without sleep. A large population also uses drugs to boost their courage. Anxiolytics are used as stimulants for pleasure. Lithium is used to correct emotion and people use it for fun to just be in the mood. A large population of the youths uses this drug in parties to keep them ‘high' as they call it.

In order to understand how these drugs are used as recreational drugs, we will examine the different types of psychotropic drugs which include stimulants, psychedelic, and depressants. The drugs that fall under depressants make a person feel relaxed and calm. Stimulants on the hand give the user a feeling of accuracy. The user also feels energetic than they really are. Psychedelic drugs cause a feeling of amusement. The user hallucinates and finds the feeling awesome. It has come to attention that people end up using these drugs for recreational purposes rather than taking them for serious psychotherapy medication.

Many scientists have however concluded that other than fun, a good representation of the population abuse drugs due to prior trauma experience, self-medication, genetic actors and due to psychological problems. Some theories suppose that users abuse drugs due to the instant gratification they derive from drug consumption. The majority of the youths use drugs out of curiosity, the sense of belonging to a particular group and failure at school. At the end of the day, people do not consider these factors but instead end up classifying their consumption as for ‘recreational purposes'.

Psychotropic substances are also used in therapeutic trans- nosology. These nosological diagnoses refer to the effect of a drug on specified pathological entity. Examples of the use of psychotropic drugs in therapeutic include the use of chlorpromazine to treat schizophrenia and treatment of depression using imipramine.

In conclusion, psychotropic drugs are widely used all over the world. These drugs are used among the children, the youth and elderly. The discovery of psychotropic drugs came with a new streak of light to the world. People used to believe that mental disorders were being caused by external factors that they had minimal of no control over. However, the introductions of psychotropic substances have proved this concept wrong and a large population of the world is benefiting from this treatment. Other than the use in medicine, psychotropic drugs have other uses in religion, culture, recreation and therapeutic. It has been noted that these drugs have got a number of side effects. However, these side effects can be minimized if the right proportions are used for the right purpose.