Chemotherapy: Part 1 of 4

Chemotherapy, the treatment of abnormal behavior with drugs, is the most widespread biological technique. In fact, it is one of the two most widely used forms of therapy (the other is talk therapies). Most psychoactive   drugs can be classified as antianxiety, antidepressant, or antipsychotic. As the names imply, each type of drug is aimed at treating a specific type of abnormal functioning. Antianxiety drugs are essentially tranquilizers that calm people who are tense or anxious. Antidepressant drugs are designed to lift the mood of a depressed person, and antipsychotic drugs modify the severe manifestations of psychosis.

The treatment of anxiety with antianxiety drugs is widely practiced not only by therapists but also by medical doctors who give their patients something to "calm their nerves'' and by individuals who swallow a tranquilizer   whenever they feel emotionally upset. The popularity of these drugs is due, in large part, to (he speed with which they work. (They are also less expensive than psychotherapy.) When they do work, they seem almost to be an instant cure. The "instant cure," however, may be little more than a temporary alleviation of symptoms. There is growing evidence   that the so-called minor tranquilizers, such as Librium, Miltown. and Valium, are physically and psychologically addictive when used consistently   in high dosages over a long period of time. They are even more addictive and also dangerous (sometimes fatal) when used with alcohol.

Antidepressant drugs are the most common biological treatment for depression. The two main types of antidepressants are tricyclics and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, both of which were discovered by   accident. The tricyclics were being tested as a treatment of schizophrenia, and although they proved to be ineffective researchers noted that subjects showed an unexpected increase in positive mood. The same result was found when MAO inhibitors were administered as a treatment for tuberculosis.

Tricyclic drugs are usually preferred over MAO inhibitors for depressed persons, first because they have been proved more effective, and second because the MAO inhibitors sometimes have very dangerous side effects, including brain and liver damage, when mixed with certain foods. The tricyclics, in those cases where they do help, start lifting a person's spirits after a period of approximately ten days. Further adjustments in dosage are then made until a maintenance level is reached.