Alan S. Bloom – Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals

Outline

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
Core Pharmacological Principles

• Brain structures & circuits involved in:
  • Emotional regulation
  • Executive function & inhibitory control
  • Reward & pleasure
  • Learning & memory
• Receptors and neurotransmitters important in the actions of psychopharmacological agents
  • Biogenic amines
  • Excitatory & inhibitory neurotransmitters
  • Endorphins & endocannabinoids

Your Role in Combined Psychological & Pharmacological Treatments

• Collaboration & communication with prescribing professionals
• Managing the combined treatments
  • Referrals for medication
  • Client psycho-education
  • Monitoring drug effects & side effects
  • Promoting adherence to combined treatments

DRUGS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF DSM-5® MENTAL DISORDERS

Depressive Disorders

• Neurobiology of depression
• Drugs used to treat depressive disorders
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
    • Effects, side effects and cautions
    • Suicide risk & discontinuation syndrome
    • Serotonin syndrome
• Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)
  • Effects, side effects, and cautions
• Atypical antidepressant agents
  • Effects, side effects, and cautions
• Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
  • Effects, side effects, and cautions
  • Why were newer drugs needed?
• MAO inhibitors
  • Effects, side effects, and cautions
• Choosing an antidepressant
• What if first-line antidepressants do not work?
  • Augmentation with antipsychotics
• What about herbs like St. John’s Wort?

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

• Biological theories of schizophrenia
• ”Typical” & “atypical” antipsychotic drugs
  • Effects, side effects & cautions – similarities & differences
• Latest evidence-based comparisons
• Drugs for treatment-resistant schizophrenia
• Other uses of antipsychotic drugs

Bipolar Disorders

• Biological theories for bipolar disorders
• Drugs used to treat bipolar disorders
  • A prototype agent-lithium
    • Effects, side effects & cautions
  • Anticonvulsants
    • Effects, side effects & cautions
  • Antipsychotics – approved agents
  • Combination drug therapy

Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive & Sleep-Wake Disorders

• The neurobiology of anxiety-related disorders
• The structure of sleep
• Drugs used in the treatment of anxiety & insomnia
  • Benzodiazepines & Benzodiazepine-like drugs
  • Misuse of these drugs in treatment
  • SSRI’s & other drugs used to treat anxiety

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder & Neurocognitive Disorders (Dementia)

• ADHD
  • Psycho-stimulants
    • Effects, side effects & cautions
  • Alpha-Adrenergic Agonists
• Major neurocognitive disorders
  • Drugs used in the treatment of cognitive impairment
  • Future treatments

Prescription Drug Abuse

• Mental disorders & risk of comorbid prescription drug abuse
• Classes of drugs that are frequently abused
  • Stimulants
  • Sedative-hypnotics
  • Opiates
• Strategies for the prevention & early identification of prescription drug abuse

LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH AND POTENTIAL RISKS