Treatment Overview

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the required chapters from the text and review the required articles for this week. Over the course of the past weeks, we have considered the use of medications in the treatment of various psychological disorders. This discussion will provide you with an opportunity to give an informed appraisal on the use of drugs to treat disorders and defend your stance based on your judgment of the literature. In your initial post, describe what you believe are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of using the medications to treat psychological disorders.  Evaluate the employment of psychoactive drugs in the treatment of disorders over the lifespan from both an ethical and risk-benefits perspective. Summarize the theories of psychiatric disease and the scientific rationale behind its treatment through the employment of drug therapies. Explain what you believe to be the greatest challenges in the use of psychoactive medications over the next several years. Support your statements with references and logical arguments.

Guided Response:

Review several of your colleagues’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful interactive discourse in this discussion. Evaluate and describe the quality of your colleague’s argument. How did he or she use the literature to support the statements made? Do you agree with the argument and your colleague’s choice of the greatest challenges? Why, or why not? Did your colleague provide convincing data for this position? What insights did your colleague include that you had not considered? What might you suggest your colleague consider which was not included? Please use your research to support your assertions. Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Day 7 of the week and respond to anyone who replies to your initial post.