Psychopharmacology.drjma

Dr. James M. Alo, RN, MAN, MAP, PHD

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

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“And while we are on the subject of medication you alwaysneed to look at risk versus benefit. “

Temple Grandin

Psychopharmacology

¨ The systematic study of the effects of drugs onbehavior, cognitive processing, and emotions.

¨ These drugs are called psychoactive or psychotropicdrugs – drugs that change behavior, emotions, andcognitive processes by changing the normal activityof the nervous system

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Derivation of the TermPsychopharmacology

¨ Psyche – mind

¨ Pharmaka – drugs and medicine (pharmakus)

¨ Logos - study

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Factors Influencing the Effects of Drugs

¨ Factors related to the drug itself¤ 1.the chemical structure¤ 2.the dosage – how much was taken¤ 3.how frequently the drug is taken¤ 4.how long since last taken

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Factors Influencing the Effects of Drugs

¨ Factors not related to the drug¤ 1.mind set of person taking the drug¤ 2.the setting where the drug was taken¤ 3.the person’s unique biomedical make up

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Good drugs and Bad Drugs?

¨ Drugs are chemicals, they are neither good norbad. Whether viewed as good or bad dependsupon¤ 1.how much is taken¤ 2.why it is taken¤ 3.the context in which is taken

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History of Drug Use

¨ Use of naturally occurring psychoactive drugs hasexisted as long as human history

¨ The use of mushrooms, opium, cannabis, morningglory seeds, alcohol, coca leaves, and even toadshave been used for thousands of years

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Other Species Use of Drugs

¨ Apes, horses, and horses prefer water with alcoholover plain water

¨ Some birds prefer fermented berries over fresh¨ Bees prefer the intoxicating nectar of certain flowers¨ Llamas chew coca leaves¨ Reindeer have been known to seek hallucinogenic

mushrooms¨ Some ants maintain groups of beetles that secrete

intoxicating substances

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Drugs in the 19th Century

¨ Major change in the use of drugs –isolation ordistillation of the active chemical that causedbehavioral changes

¨ 1805 – morphine isolated from opium – used totreat periods of “insanity”

¨ 1857- cocaine isolated from coca leaves – used totreat depression

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Recreational and Social Use of Drugs

¨ Most likely existed before recorded history

¨ 19th century saw the use of therapeutic drugs becoming usedfor recreation

¨ Jacque-Joseph Moreau a French psychiatrist, wrote about themedicinal and social use of hashish in 1845

¨ Drugs were widely used and their use was acceptable

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Recreational and Social Use of Drugs

¨ Recreational use of drugs began to be seen as badand immoral¤ Addictive properties became known¤ More powerful drugs isolated¤ Larger quantities became available

¨ Latter part of the 19th century laws prohibiting druguse and penalties for use began to be written – notvery successful

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1950’s

¨ Psychopharmacology said to have begun in the1950’s with the widespread use of chlorpromazine orThorazine

¨ Thorazine used as a pre-anesthesia in France to calmpeople. Tested on people with schizophrenia

¨ Promazine – an antihistamine used in surgery alsofound to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia

¨ Dramatic increase in the testing of other drugs totreat mental illness and development of new drugs

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Illegal Drugs

¨ Making certain drugs illegal or controlledsubstances, only to be used by MD’s, has done littleto curtail the use of these drugs.

¨ May have prevented a major increase in the use ofdrugs.¤ Many people see no reason to stop¤ Drug abuse is wrong, but I am not abusing drugs

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What is Drug Abuse?

¨ The self administration of any drug in a manner thatdeviates from approved medical or societal patternwithin a culture.

¨ Problem – What is considered a “deviation”?

¨ Problem – people may not recognize or admit whenthey meet the criteria of drug abuse

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Effects of the “War on Drugs”

¨ Use of narcotics has remained fairly constant since1975 – use of pharmacological narcotics hasdramatically increased

¨ Use of cocaine has fallen, but number of frequentusers hasn’t

¨ For young adults major decline in use of cigarettes,hallucinogens, and cannabis. Alcohol use constant –binge drinking has increased

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Purpose of This Course

¨ Education about the chemicals we call drugs:¤ What are drugs?¤ What are their intended effects and side effects?¤ How do they work?¤ When can they be beneficial? Harmful?

¨ Remember, just being legal does not make a drug a“good” drug¤ Nicotine and alcohol

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Side Effects of the “War on Drugs”

¨ Development of new more powerful drugs that canbe shipped in smaller amounts

¨ Increase in more hazardous ways of taking drugs

¨ Issue of decreasing drug abuse a very complexproblem that requires more than just attempting tostop the flow of drugs

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“You shouldn't be told you're completely irresponsible and be leftalone with too much medication. It's too easy to forget. You takea couple of sleeping pills and you wake up in twenty minutes and

forget you've taken them. So you take a couple more, and thenext thing you know you've taken too many.”

Judy Garland

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Thank You

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