Biomedical Therapy

1. Biomedical Therapy Ashley Panarello, Regen Zimmerman, Kendall Anderson, and Cheyenne Boyer

2. Description • Biomedical therapy is treatment that, rather than talking to someone or attempting to change ones behavior patterns, but it is an actual physical intervention in the brain itself. • The purpose of biomedical therapy is to help people with mental problems and the goal is to improve their problems and make their lives easier.

3. Description 1. Drug Therapy    a. Drug therapy involves the use of drugs to relieve psychological symptoms. The main drugs used are antianxiety drugs, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. The drugs alter the firing of nerve cells in the brain or the amounts of certain neurotransmitter substances available. Given in moderation and with supervision these drugs can lessening anxiety or depression and reducing psychotic symptoms.

4. Description 2. Electroconvulsive Therapy    a. Electroconvulsive therapy is therapy in which an electrical shock is sent through the brain to try to reduce symptoms of mental disturbance. It will lift some people out of a deep suicidal depression. Electroconvulsive therapy does not work with any other mental disturbances besides depression

5. Description 3. Psychosurgery    a. Psychosurgery is surgery that destroys part of the brain to make the patient calmer, freer of symptoms. Most commonly the prefrontal area is destructed, this part controls our personality. Once the laser destroys this part of the brain it slows the patient down.

6. Pros and Cons 1. Drug Therapy    a. Pros of drug therapy are many of their drugs can lessen anxiety, depression, and psychotic symptoms. Patients are able to function in life after taking the drugs.    b. Cons of drug therapy are people can rely to heavily on drugs and not heavily enough on psychotherapy. Also these drugs don’t work for everyone and there is no drug makes a person “well.” Lastly the dosage given is often too high and so these patients complain of empty feelings in their lives.

7. Pros and Cons 2. Electroconvulsive Therapy    a. Pros of electroconvulsive therapy are it helps people get out of deep depression.    b. Cons are doesn’t work with any category of mental disturbance other than depression. It is feared by many patients because of the thought of having a shock through your brain. Memory loss and confusion occurs afterward and with continued shock treatments, the memory loss persists for longer periods of time and can result in brain damage.

8. Pros and Cons 3. Psychosurgery    a. Pros of psychosurgery are it calms down patients.    b. Cons are brain tissue never restores itself so the effects are permanent. If the wrong area is hit the patient can get much more violent and unmanageable.

9. Key Beliefs of Allport • theory begins with common terms that individuals use to describe one another • ex: honest, dominant, outgoing, ect. • divided adjectives into three major categories of traits and they go from strongest and most often expressed to weakest • Cardinal - strong characteristics affect most of what individuals do • Central - highly characteristic of an individual • Secondary - weak personality traits which only appear on occansion

10. Key Beliefs of Cattell • divided personality traits into two major categories • Surface Traits - characteristics which are easily observed by others • Source Traits - traits that underlie surface behavior • ex: might notice a friend gives into what others want, person is being submissive

11. Key Beliefs of Eysenck • only two major dimensions necessary to describe individual's personalities • Extraversion - personality dimension of being outgoing and sociable • Emotional Stability - personality dimension that concerns how much an individual is affected by feelings • ex: on a scale of very outgoing to very quiet, calm or anxious and depressed or upbeat