Psychotherapeutic Medicine

Psychotherapeutic Medicine

1. Psychotherapeutic medicines are the medicines that treats mental illness.
2. Psychotherapeutic medicines can be divided into two groups, the stimulant and the antidepressant.

Stimulant

1. A stimulant is a medicine that can increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and produces a sense of awakens.
2. It can be used as recreational or therapeutically drugs to increase alertness.
3. Sometimes it is abused to boost endurance and productivity or to suppress appetite.
4. Examples of stimulants are
   
   1. caffeine
   2. nicotine
   3. amphetamines
   4. cocaine

Antidepressant

1. An antidepressant is a medication designed to treat depression.
2. It will increase the brain’s neurotransmitters level and hence make people feel calm and sleepy.
3. Antidepressants create little if any immediate change in mood and require between several days and several weeks to take effect.
4. There are two class of antidepressant, the barbiturate and the tranquilizers.

Barbiturate

1. Barbiturates are organic compounds used in medicine as sedatives (to produce a calming effect), or as hypnotics (to produce sleep)
2. The barbiturates are derivatives of barbituric acid.
3. Prolonged use of the barbiturates may cause a tolerance to the user.
4. An overdose of barbiturates can result in coma and even death.
5. Nowaday, barbiturates have largely been replaced as sedatives by the benzodiazepines and other minor tranquilizers.

Tranquilizers

1. Tranquilizers are drug that is used to reduce anxiety, fear, tension, agitation, and related states of mental disturbance.
2. Tranquilizers fall into two main classes, major and minor.
3. Major tranquilizers, which are also known as antipsychotic agents, are used to treat major states of mental disturbance in schizophrenics and other psychotic patients.
4. Major tranquilizers do not cure schizophrenia but merely suppress its symptoms.
5. By contrast, minor tranquilizers, which are also known as antianxiety agents, , are used to treat milder states of anxiety and tension in healthy individuals or people with less serious mental disorders.
6. The principal minor tranquilizers are the benzodiazepines. These drugs have a calming effect and eliminate both the physical and psychological effects of anxiety or fear.