The word psychopharmacology builds on the three Greek words “soul,” “drug,” and “teaching.” It studies the effects of psychoactive substances on humans and animals, with the goal of therapeutic application. The effects of active substances on the nervous system and the resulting reactions in experience and behavior are researched and described.
What is psychopharmacology?
Psychopharmacology studies the effects of psychoactive substances on humans and animals, with the goal of therapeutic application. Psychopharmacology traces its origins to the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin. He not only classified the various mental disorders, but was also one of the first to develop the concept of premature dementia. His work “On the Influence of Some Drugs on Simple Mental Processes” initiated the field of psychopharmacology. While this focuses on the knowledge of substances with central nervous effects and their consequences and effects on the psyche, there is also the field of pharmacopsychiatry, which then implements and applies this knowledge therapeutically. Psychotropic drugs act directly on mental disorders, are chemically specified substances, which must bring the condition to have obligatory psychotropic effects, which are to unfold purposefully effect. These drugs are not necessary for normal cellular function, but have a psychoactive effect at the physiological level. They are administered intravenously, intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly and, before reaching the nervous system, must cross the blood–brain barrier, which is a barrier between the bloodstream and the central nervous system. Other psychologically active substances include stimulants, narcotics, or social drugs.
Treatments and therapies
Psychoactive substances are classified according to different criteria in psychopharmacology. The classification is made with regard to the different effectiveness on the central nervous system. These are once nonspecific depressant, such as hypnotics, narcotics, or ethyl alcohol, nonspecific activator, such as strychnine or caffeine, or selective modulator, by which both effects are meant. Especially the last group is of central interest for research, as it can lead to targeted relief of neurological and psychological disorders. Psychotropic drugs must have mandatory psychotropic effects and are used to cure mental disorders. They are classified according to the neurotransmitter systems they contain. These include neuroleptics to help with psychotic states, antidepressants to help treat manic and depressive states, benzodiazepines for anxiety and agitation, and psychostimulants for disorders such as infantile hyperactivity or narcolepsy. Analgesics, sleep aids, or psychostimulants that activate mental states are not targeted. Also included are antiepileptic drugs, which are used primarily to treat neurological disorders. For all these agents, the findings on effects, changes in experience and behavior are documented. This also requires knowledge of the neurobiological basis of an effect. To this end, psychopharmacology focuses on processes such as absorption or reabsorption, the distribution and degradation of a substance, the time between ingestion and the effect on the brain, and the study of interactions. Just as mental disorders must first be diagnosed in terms of their effects and behavioral patterns, the field of psychopharmacology studies the effects of individual substances on specific conditions, including how they are metabolized in the body or the changes that occur in the brain. In addition, the desired and undesired effects of the substances used to treat mental disorders must also be researched. This concerns restrictions on the use of, for example, tranquilizers, antidepressants or analgesics. It is not the chemically identical composition of these substances that is important for classification and use, but rather the consistent effect on behavior and experience in the patient. Depressant psychotropic drugs are also used to treat sleep disorders, restlessness and pain, agitated depression or disorders of old age. Activating substances, on the other hand, are used to treat schizophrenia.
Diagnosis and examination methods
Since mental disorders are not always due to physical damage, but take place for the time being on an emotional mental level, psychopharmacology also experiments with so-called placebos. In this process, groups of people are provided with drugs containing both effective and ineffective substances and the reaction that occurs in each case, insofar as all test subjects expect a certain effect. Thus, in addition to the effect, the behavior that results from expectations is also considered, since psychotropic drugs in particular can cause undesirable side effects. Essential for this area are also the substance effects in their duration and the associated substance dependence. For example, research is being conducted into the response to barbiturates, alcohol or opiates, their effect on the nervous system and the resulting metabolic and cellular tolerance, which over a period of use often leads to a higher dose. At the same time, withdrawal symptoms are being studied. Medically used psychopharmaceuticals do not exhibit dependence and associated withdrawal symptoms in this sense, yet studies are designed to describe many years of use over the course of a psychodynamic. The use of various substances and psychotropic drugs takes different forms in different mental and psychotic disorders. Among such disorders is schizophrenia, which is treated with neuroleptics. Under such a psychotic state, the patient’s entire experience and behavior is affected, perception and thinking are disturbed, often as an expression of delusions or hallucinations. Affect and ego disorders are another consequence, accompanied by social withdrawal or lack of drive. Depression is treated with antidepressants to reduce depressive symptoms. These are expressed as severe mood swings, listlessness or listlessness, psychomotor slowing, and appetite and sleep disturbances. The biological and psychological characteristics of depression in trigger and course are not sufficiently researched, so that the use of psychotropic drugs is individually tailored to each patient. The effect is then examined for changes depending on the character, is supposed to be anxiety-reducing, mood-lifting, depression-relieving and psychomotor activating. Anxiety attacks and severe restlessness are attenuated by barbiturates and benzodiazepines. Similarly, the use of such substances occurs in sleep disorders. Analgesics are used to control pain.
