626 CHAPTER 15
Biomedical Therapies
- 10 Categorize types of drugs used to treat
psychological disorders.
- Biomedical therapies include the use of drugs, induced convul-
sions, and surgery to relieve or control the symptoms of mental
disorders. - Antipsychotic drugs are used to control delusions, hallucina-
tions, and bizarre behavior and include the typical antipsychot-
ics, atypical antipsychotics, and partial dopamine agonists. - Antianxiety drugs are used to treat anxiety and related disor-
ders and include the benzodiazepines and certain antidepres-
sant drugs. - Antimanic drugs are used to treat bipolar disorder and include
lithium and certain anticonvulsant drugs. - Antidepressant drugs are used in the treatment of depression
and include monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic
antidepressants, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs).
- 11 Explain how electroconvulsive therapy and
psychosurgery are used to treat psychological disorders.
- Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is used to treat severe depres-
sion, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia and involves the use
of a muscle relaxant, a short-term anesthetic, and induction of a
seizure under controlled conditions. - One of the earliest psychosurgeries was the prefrontal lobotomy,
in which the front part of the frontal lobe was cut away from the
back part of the brain, producing effects ranging from a disap-
pearance of symptoms to a lack of emotional response and dull-
ing of mental functions.- Modern psychosurgery includes the bilateral cingulotomy, used
to treat major depression, bipolar disorders, and certain forms of
obsessive-compulsive disorder that have not responded to other
forms of treatment.
- 12 Identify some of the newer technologies being
used to treat psychological disorders.
- Emerging technologies for treatment of psychological disorders
include repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS),
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and deep brain
stimulation (DBS).
Applying Psychology to Everyday Life: Virtual
Reality Therapies- 13 Describe how virtual reality can be used in
psychotherapy.
- Virtual reality therapy is a computer-based simulation of envi-
ronments that can be used to treat disorders such as phobias
and PTSD with less risk than that of actual exposure to anxiety-
provoking stimuli. - Virtual reality therapy is particularly useful as a delivery system
for exposure therapy.
Test Yourself
Pick the best answer.
- Clara is going to a therapist to gain a better understanding of why
she has self-destructive relationships with all her friends. This type
of therapy is known as ____ therapy.
a. insight
b. action
c. behavioral
d. biomedical- The hidden meaning of a dream is the ____ content,
according to Freud.
a. repressed
b. latent
c. manifest
d. sexual- Through the use of ____, a person-centered therapist
conveys they are trying to understand the experience of the person
they are working with.
a. reflection
b. unconditional positive regard
c. empathy
d. authenticity- What differentiates motivational interviewing from person-centered
therapy?
a. Motivational interviewing has specific goals of reducing
ambivalence about change and increasing intrinsic motivation
to bring changes about, while traditional person-centered
therapy does not.
b. Motivational interviewing focuses on unconscious motives, while
traditional person-centered therapy focuses on the self.
c. Motivational interviewing allows the client to talk about anything
they wish, while traditional person-centered therapy is more direct.
d. Motivational interviewing is a behavioral therapeutic technique,
while person-centered therapy is a biomedical therapy.- Which of the following clients would probably get the least benefit
from a humanistic therapy?
a. Colin, who is bright but confused about self-image
b. Cole, who is very talkative and open in discussing feelings
c. Colleen, who enjoys exploring the inner workings of the mind
d. Cody, who has a hard time putting thoughts and feelings into
words in a logical manner - To overcome her fear of balloons, because of the loud sound they
might suddenly make should they pop, Bella must sit in a room
filled with balloons while the therapist pops each one. After a while,
Bella realizes that her fear is unjustified and even begins to pop bal-
loons herself. This technique is known as
a. systematic desensitization.
b. aversion therapy.
c. flooding.
d. extinction.- Megan’s daughter Kayla was afraid of dogs. Megan took Kayla
to a therapist to help her overcome her fear but was surprised
when the therapist brought a dog into the room. At first Kayla was
asked to watch from across the room as the therapist showed her