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Biological Therapies definitions

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  • Antipsychotics
    Medications primarily used for schizophrenia, targeting dopamine and serotonin receptors to reduce psychosis symptoms.
  • Antidepressants
    Medications designed to elevate mood and energy, often by altering serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine activity.
  • Benzodiazepines
    Drugs known as tranquilizers, enhancing GABA activity to produce rapid calming effects for anxiety.
  • Mood Stabilizers
    Medications, such as lithium, used to manage both manic and depressive episodes in bipolar disorder.
  • Mechanism of Action
    The specific biochemical process through which a drug produces its therapeutic effect in the brain.
  • Side Effects
    Unintended, often unpleasant, physiological or psychological reactions resulting from medication use.
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
    Second-generation antidepressants, commonly prescribed, that block serotonin reabsorption to boost mood.
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
    First-generation antidepressants that prevent breakdown of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine.
  • Tricyclics
    Older antidepressants that block reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin, rarely used today due to side effects.
  • Tolerance
    A phenomenon where increasing doses of a drug are needed to achieve the same therapeutic effect.
  • Placebo Effect
    Improvement in symptoms resulting from the expectation of benefit rather than the drug's active ingredients.
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
    A noninvasive procedure using magnetic fields to stimulate the prefrontal cortex, mainly for severe depression.
  • Electroconvulsive Therapy
    A treatment involving controlled seizures induced by electrical currents, effective for severe, treatment-resistant depression.
  • Anterior Cingulotomy
    A precise neurosurgical procedure creating a small lesion in the anterior cingulate cortex to alleviate severe depression or OCD.
  • Psychotherapy
    A non-pharmacological intervention providing skills and insights to manage psychological symptoms, often combined with medication.