Current Issues in Psychopharmacology Paper: Deliberate Self-harm and Anti-depressants Small pox, measles, influenza, yellow fever and cholera: all have one thing in common; they all are epidemics that have crossed over America in waves. Epidemics happen every year; the current epidemic America is preparing for is the H1N1 swine flu. Small pox, measles, and influenza are just a few of the epidemics seen in America; but, what about the forgotten epidemics; the unexplained illnesses that have plagued America and hundreds of Americans every day for thousands of years.
Illnesses’ that affect the brain; such as: bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and the many other mental illnesses discovered over the last few decades. More importantly than the epidemic of these illnesses, is the way that they are treated and the potential risks associated with treatment. This paper is designed to analyze the risk of an epidemic of deliberate self-harm caused by the utilization of anti-depressants and its impact on the field of biological psychology.The brain; whether of a human or an animal is an intricate piece of work. The human race has learned much about how it works and its functions yet at the same time know nothing about it as a whole.
To understand fully the effect that anti-depressant medications have on the brain, one must first have some background knowledge in what is known about the brain and how it functions. It is common knowledge that the brain affects a person’s behavior, but how?Along with postsynaptic potentials; excitatory (when the voltage inside the cell becomes positively charged) and inhibitory (when the voltage inside the cell becomes negatively charged), synaptic transmissions and receptors play a role in producing and regulating one’s behavior (Sahley, 2002). The process that follows describes how behavior is affected by the brain. A series of events takes place within the neuron of the axon hillock, between the axon and cell body. These events cause a nerve impulse; the buildup of these nerve impulses causes an electrical movement within the synapses; known as a synaptic or a neurotransmission.Neurotransmission is the way the brain communicates with the neurons; information is feed through receptors that are bound with a specific neurotransmitter.
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are released in the body that serve a primary purpose of transmitting messages between the neurons and other cells. There are many neurotransmitters present in the body; however, there are a few key chemicals that have a more prominent role in behavior and brain function. Some of these primary chemicals are noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin; GABA, acetylcholine and glutamate.Noradrenaline is a substance that is released by nerve cells; and has many effects on the body, noradrenaline in known to increases the concentration of glucose in the blood, raise both the rate at which the heart beats and an increase in blood pressure. Another neurotransmitter; dopamine, also plays several roles in the brain; dopamine plays an important role in behavior, it affects the way one thinks, motivation, mood and sleep.
Serotonin is another chemical that also plays an important role in behavior by affecting both mood and sleep; serotonin also affects sexuality and the regulation of body temperature (Sahley, 2002).GABA is an acid that discharges during inhibitory synapses. GABA works as a binding mechanism in transmembrane receptors located in the plasma membrane of both pre- and postsynaptic neurons. Acetylcholine; delivers sodium ion that stimulates and excites both the nerves and muscles. If one’s body produces too much acetylcholine it can cause severe problems, such as a decreased heart rate. Glutamate is believed to play an active role in cognitive functions.
Research has proven time and again that any imbalance within the neurotransmitters will affects both brain function and behavior (Sahley, 2002).In order for one to even begin to understand or treat a common mental illness, he or she would first have to understand the most basic biological roles of the many neurotransmitters. One would also need to have an idea of how the slightest increase or decrease in the functioning levels could possibly affect a person. One of the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses in the United States is depression. Depression is treated by the use of anti-depressants.
One of the most commonly used anti-depressants is an SSRI; Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.SSRI work by altering the way specific neurotransmitters work. According to Wickens (2005), “ the discovery of synaptic chemical transmissions…provides one of the pivotal points in the history of biological science-not least because it raised the possibility of modifying brain function and behavior by the use of drugs that affect neurotransmitters” (Wickens, 2005). SSRI’s work by increasing the level of serotonin, this does two things; increasing the serotonin inhibits reuptake to the presynaptic cell, which in turn increases the level of serotonin vailable to the postsynaptic receptor. While it is fantastic that it is possible to alleviate the symptoms of depression and some anxiety disorders, what are the risks of using SSRI’s that have the ability to alter the way chemicals bond within the brain? Medications such as SSRI’s are used to treat many psychiatric illnesses; however, just like most other medications, SSRI’s come loaded with potential side effects. The problem with altering chemicals within the brain is that one can never be certain of the risk of the potential side effects.
For example, when a person is depressed they experience symptoms. Common symptoms of depression are; constant sadness, irritability, hopelessness, inability to fall and stay asleep, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, difficulty concentrating and the loss of interest in hobbies and other activities. When the neurotransmitters are not properly balanced, it is hard to say what the response to a change in those already out of balance chemical reactions would be. In many cases it is not uncommon for a person’s symptoms of depression to worsen after they start SSRI medications.As a matter of fact many of the medications need time to build up before they can even begin to work.
Typically a person expects results right away when he or she starts a medication and in many cases the side effects of the medications being used to treat the illness are so similar to the original symptoms of the illness that one may actually feel worse instead of better. These increased symptoms unfortunately add to the feelings of despair causing an increase in severity of the depression. A case study in New Zealand between 1996 and 2001 evaluated 57361 people prescribed a single (SSRI) antidepressant.What was discovered was that within 120 days after starting the prescribed anti-depressant there were 26 confirmed suicides and 330 episodes of self-harm (Didham, McConnell, Blair & Reith, 2005). One must take into consideration that while SSRI’s have had an enormous impact on biological psychology, that there is still more to be learned about SSRI’s and the impact they can have on those that use them.
Patients suffering from mental illness should not be forced to take medications that can worsen his or her symptoms.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/http://web.ebscohost.com/Legacy/Views/static/html/Error.htm?aspxerrorpath=/ehost/detail
