The 7 Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Psychotropic Drugs
Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of using psychotropic drugs when treating certain psychological or psychiatric problems is something that many people underestimate. There are those who simply assume that where there is an alteration of this type, the only possible solution is to take medication.
It is true that this type of medical help is very useful in many cases, but it would be a mistake to assume that the only cost of using them is the price of the product itself. Therefore, in this article We will see what the pros and cons of psychotropic drugs are
What are psychotropic drugs and how are they used in therapy?
Within the field of mental health, there are certain resources that belong to the domains of medicine, since when used they have an objective and organic effect on certain parts of the body. Those that we will discuss in this section are, by far, the most used, one of the indispensable work tools of psychiatrists.
The concept of psychoactive drug is very broad, but in general it encompasses all the drugs used to treat psychopathologies, that is, mental health problems that result in emotional, cognitive and/or behavioral alterations Consequently, they are products prepared from years of scientific research and have an effect on the brain, by intervening directly in the main set of organs that support psychological processes.
Due to their nature, the use of these substances must always be prescribed and supervised by doctors, and in fact, psychologists are not trained to prescribe them, since they have not been trained through medical sciences (as we will see, their function is different and complementary to that of psychiatrists).
Advantages of using psychotropic drugs
The use of psychotropic drugs provides many advantages in the treatment of certain pathologies; If this were not the case, it would be difficult to understand why they are used so much. Here you will find a brief summary of its benefits.
1. It is relatively cheap to use
The majority of well-established psychotropic drugs on the market are cheap to make and, consequently, their mass production makes it difficult in most developed countries. relatively easy to access them through the health system
2. They give the possibility of experiencing its effects in a few weeks
Although most psychotropic drugs, if used well, do not produce significant and persistent effects from the first intake, they normally allow you to benefit from their effects in a couple of weeks. In comparison, psychotherapy usually takes a little longer since the first sessions are exploratory and serve to develop hypotheses about the causes of the patient’s discomfort.
The vast majority of people usually have no problems understanding how to take their doses regularly; You just have to remember the quantity and the number of hours that must pass between one feeding and the next
4. They keep the appearance of dangerous symptoms at bay
Within the balance of advantages and disadvantages of the use of psychotropic drugs, it is worth remembering that some pathologies are severe enough to require maximum guarantee that certain symptoms will not appear ; For example, it occurs with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, in which hallucinations and delusions can generate dangerous behaviors. In this sense, this class of medication has proven to be quite effective.
Disadvantages of the use of psychotropic drugs
These are the main negative aspects of the use of psychotropic drugs, which make it necessary that they always be taken following the instructions of a doctor who has explored our particular case.
1. They can generate specific side effects
All psychotropic drugs interact more or less intensely with neurons and since no human being is the same, there is a certain level of uncertainty about how it will modify the functioning of an individual’s body.
And although these medications tend to have beneficial effects to treat certain mental disorders, it is not known in much detail why this is due, since these molecules have very diverse effects and do not only act on the parts of the body that must be intervened. , but also in many others. Hence side effects are common; The point is to prevent the most harmful ones from occurring.
Since these drugs intervene on cells and not directly on behavioral patterns, offer relatively superficial solutions To modify dysfunctional psychological processes it will be necessary to go to psychotherapy.
3. Some psychotropic drugs are addictive
Finally, it should be noted that some psychotropic drugs have a significant addictive potential, causing the person to be exposed to the drug. risk of getting “hooked” on this substance and seek higher doses on the illegal drug market.
Do you want to have psychological assistance?
As I mentioned before, there is no doubt that, for many people, thinking about the concept of therapy applied to emotional and behavioral problems is equivalent to thinking about psychotropic drugs. That is, the typical “pills” that are used for phenomena such as clinical depression or anxiety disorders.
However, this way of understanding mental health is misleading, since there are therapeutic intervention strategies that do not involve taking medications capable of altering the functioning of the brain.
If you are interested in facing and overcoming a psychological problem from the field of Psychology, going beyond aids based on psychotropic drugs, contact me.
Am Thomas Saint Cecilia I am a psychologist specialized in intervention through the cognitive-behavioral model, and I serve adults and adolescents through in-person or online sessions by video call.
