Relapse
Psychotropic mediation mainly focuses on solving a mental disorder by use of drug prescriptions unlike cognitive behavioral therapy which is more concern with the thinking process of a patient. Cognitive behavioral therapy attempts to assess the situation analysis ability of a patient in a bid to offer a solution to the problem of depression or anxiety. It thus concerns itself with the form of thinking of a patient and not the content of thought. Through this- as proved by research-a patients situation analysis mechanism can be examined and improved. It is argued that anxiety and depression mainly emanate from an individual’s interpretation of a given event or situation, which is influenced by their form of thought.
Medication by the use of drugs has minimal or absolutely no effects to the cognitive part of a patient. As a result treatment by use of psychotropic mediation may end up providing a short term solution to the problem, as the patient is likely to revert back to a depression or anxiety state after a short period.
The return to the initial state of anxiety of a patient after undergoing treatment is what researchers’ term as a relapse. This condition is critical as well as fatal as patients in a relapse state are likely to suffer more from the problem than they did before the administering of treatment. These patients will suffer more since there trust in the treatment system is also greatly affected and they thus do not see any solution to their problem which makes them depressed the more.
To prevent this condition from occurring, cognitive behavioral therapy method has been proved through various research findings to be the most appropriate for prevention of relapses. This is due to its ability to successfully shift the mode of processing of patients, besides aiding them in the acquisition of compensatory or cognitive skill.
Therefore a patient is not only treated, but also equipped with the necessary skill that will aid in prevention of an occurrence of a similar state. The unique form of treatment ensures that most if not all loops that may cause patients to relapse are sealed unlike in the use of medications where chances for a relapse to occur are not taken into consideration.
Depression and anxiety are more of a cognitive aspect of human beings than they are physical. Thus an attempt to comprehensively treat them should focus more on the thoughts of a patient if lasting solutions for the problem are to be obtained.
Outcome prediction
In the treatment of a patient, prediction of a possible outcome of the treatment process is very crucial, as it aids in making necessary adjustments to suit expectations of a given treatment. Prediction only occurs in the event of pretreatment expectancies or features.
Through Psychotropic mediation, it is quite difficult to capture the pretreatment expectancies inherent in a suffering patient. Prediction of an outcome hence becomes challenging as it only involves the evaluation of particular symptoms, followed by prescription of drugs whose performance is meant to determine if prescription matched the symptoms. According to research this method that does not provide adequate room for pretreatment assessment of a patient poses more harm than good to a depressed patient.
Methods that do not provide room for pretreatment assessment of a patient have been found by research to yield wavering results. This is mainly contributed by their lack of engagement in a holistic assessment of patients from the pretreatment stage, through the treatment process and eventually after treatment.
The assessment process that consequently aids in the prediction of outcome is more of practical than theoretical in approach, as it concerns itself with the patient’s behavior. Therefore cognitive behavioral therapy which adopts the practical approach is better placed to effectively predict treatment outcomes unlike the psychotropical mediation mechanism which is more of theoretical in approach. Cognitive therapy is able to successfully predict outcomes by evaluating pre-treatment expectancies such as, relationship between therapist and patient, patients beliefs as well as personality. In terms of relationship the therapist examines the patient’s’ openness honesty and active engagement and agreement with therapy process.
On the basis of beliefs the therapist is involved in the in-depth assessment of a patient’s attitude or perception of one’s self. A patient may have a perfectionist kind of belief which may have quite negative effects on the outcome of the treatment process. Personality is also a pretreatment feature used by a therapist to determine weather a particular patient has a depressive personality or not. Existence of a depressive personality translates to prediction of a negative outcome has exhibited by several researches. As the research based argument above indicate, it is evident that cognitive behavioral therapy is best suited for prediction purposes as opposed to the psycho tropical mediation technique.
Side effects vs. enduring effects
Psycho tropical mediation involves the use of drugs in its treatment, and like any other method that is characterized by the use of drugs the technique has side effects. Different drugs are known to contain given side effects even though they may be very handy in solving a given problem at a given time.
Therefore medication can be quite harmful at times to a patient due to its cause of side effects that are physical and emotional as well as permanent in their damaging ability. Some of the physical side effects include; dizziness, change in appetite, drowsiness, weight gain as well as sleep disturbance, while the emotional ones include; loss of interests, mood swings and emotional numbness. Tardive-dyskinesia, Parkinsonism and death are some of the permanent damaging effects that can be brought about by medication.
On the other hand cognitive behavioral therapy has been found by several researches to posses an enduring effect as opposed to side effects on a patient. This enduring effect lasts beyond the treatment hence it is very unlikely for a patient who has undergone a therapy to experience a relapse. Studies have further proved that when cognitive therapy is employed in the treatment of depression and anxiety it possess the efficacious effect inherent in medications hence making it more superior.
Cost effectiveness proved
Given its enduring effect, cognitive behavioral therapy has proved according to research to be more economical compared to medication. This is supported by the fact that, it does not involve the dependence on given drug for purposes of treatment.
If a patient is treated by the use of medication for instance the use of antidepressants, he or she may incur costs in the continued purchase of the drug. It becomes worse when a patient experiences a relapse of is subjected to the side effects of a given drug, since treating a side effects which could have been avoided is in itself an unnecessary cost on the patient.
The enduring effect of cognitive behavioral therapy, ensures that a patient only pays for the therapy process and once its done there is no other cost to be incurred with regard to the treatment of a depression. This method has no relapse as well as side effects hence all unnecessary costs are avoided thus making an economical method of treatment.
Enhancement ability
In cognitive behavioral therapy, the effectiveness of treatment can be enhanced through the subjection of a patient to training; unlike in medication where by an attempt to enhance treatment by addition of drugs might result to overdosing.
A therapist through cognitive therapy is able to take the patient through training for purposes of shifting the form of thought. The availability of the training option ensures that a patient is treated in accordance to his or her own specific needs as opposed to a generalized treatment based on given symptoms.
These generalizations may hinder the comprehensive handling of depressed patients, since it is limited in specificity. Hence patients that vary in their needs with regards to treatment may end up getting insufficient treatment for their anxieties and depressions.
Mechanism employed
Psychotropic medication employs a general mechanism in the treatment of different patients as opposed to cognitive therapy which utilities a mechanism that is more specific in approach.
The generalized mechanism fails in handling patients as individuals with different needs and requiring different attention as it aggregates its treatment; hence the specific needs of patients are not adequately met.
However the specific approach used by the cognitive therapy is considerate of the fact that different patients may have different needs that require different attention if adequate treatment is to be administered. This technique has been proved by various studies to be efficient and comprehensive in the treatment of depression.
Adverse events prevention
Adverse events are well catered for in the cognitive therapy than they are in the psychotropic medication. This is explained by the fact that administration of drugs alone without having any influence on the cognitive functioning of the patient does not prevent the occurrence of adverse effects such as suicide.
Research has shown that the training conducted in the cognitive therapy is quite crucial as it influences the mode of thinking of patient, hence preventing the occurrence of adverse effects. This is made possible since most of adverse effects are psychologically generated and hence need a psychological preventive measure.
Recommendations
The prescription of drugs when it comes administering a medication for a person who is depressed or when one wants to control anxiety is not the best way to combat the disease. In other words, cognitive behavioral therapy is the best option to apply when dealing with a patient who is depressed or who wants to control anxiety. The prescription of drugs like antidepressants can at times lead to some side effects. For example a patient can be dependent on the antidepressant drugs when controlling the level of anxiety or depression. To prevent such a situation from happening, the best option to resort to is the application of cognitive behavioral therapy that majorly deals with the education of the patient on how to control depression or anxiety because it majorly deals with the mind and there is no administration of drugs.
The administration of drugs when combating depression or anxiety is a temporary medication. In other words after the administration of drugs, after some time the previous condition of the patient is likely to come back. Hence, this will not have helped the patient. The adoption of cognitive therapy as a medication to depression and anxiety is a long term medication because it will help the patient to be knowledgeable on how to handle depression and anxiety.
The cost effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy is embedded by the fact that once a patient has undergone the therapy, he/she won’t spend any monetary value in the purchase of drugs or being attended to by a psychotherapist at a fee. Because once one has acquired the knowledge on how to control depression and anxiety he/she won’t need the assistance of a psychotherapist or some prescription on the same to be able to control anxiety or depression.
The analysis of once cognitive aspects can be easily used to predict the outcome of the therapy. The administration of drugs is unlikely to be used on this case because the prediction of the outcome after its administration is very hard. Hence, the analysis through the manipulation of once cognitive behavior can be easily used to predict the outcome of the therapy and how the patient will respond to depression and anxiety.
References
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Kapuur, S. (2002). Antidepressants Medication And The Relative Risk Of Suicide Attempt And Suicide. JAMA 268(24) , 3441-3445.
Morrant, J. (2007). Depression and Some New Depressants. BC Medical Journal 39(12) , 636-640.
Partonen, T. (2004). Light Treatment For Seasonal Affective Disorder: Theoretical Consideration And Clinical Implication. Acta PSychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum 377 , 41-45.
