How To Treat Abnormal Behavior? | Clinical Psychology

• Medical or somatic therapy
• Psychological therapy
• Sociological therapy 

Medical or somatic therapy.

Medical therapy concerns the physiological treatment of abnormal behavior. Some of the main measures in this category are drug or chemotherapy, shock therapy, and brain surgery.

Drug or chemotherapy.

There has been widespread use of psychotherapeutic drugs derived from chemical substances in the treatment of mental illness. These drugs can be grouped into the categories – (i) major tranquilizers, (ii) minor tranquilizers, (iii) anti–depressives, (iv) sedatives, and (v) hallucinogenics

Major tranquilizers are used with psychotic patients but may be found useful in the case of alcoholic and senile patients also. They diminish anxiety, agitation, aggressive behavior, hallucinations, and delusions and thus help to control various psychotic symptoms without impairing intelligence or clarity of consciousness chlorpromazine, a drug derived from phenothiazine and reserpine, a crystalline alkaloid extracted from Rauwolfia serpentine, is the two notable tranquilizers which have been found effective.

Minor tranquilizers like meprobamate and chlordiazepoxide reduce anxiety, over-activity, and insomnia. Sedatives carry side effects such as interference with clarity of consciousness, and causing drowsiness therefore in many cases, the use of tranquilizers is widely recommended in place of sedatives.

Depressants like lithium carbonate are mainly used in the treatment of agitated depression.

Anticonvulsant drugs like trimethadione and sodium diphenylhydantoin are found to be effective in controlling several types of epilepsy.

Hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and mescaline, are useful in the treatment of schizophrenic patients, particularly children.

The use of drugs has been effective in reducing the severity of symptoms and making the management of patients convenient in the hospital or at home. It has made it possible for many patients to function in the community instead of remaining in the hospital. The drugs make many more patients access psychological and sociological treatment.

However, the use of drugs has many limitations and drawbacks. The drugs and the dosage vary for different illnesses and patients. Therefore matching drugs and dosage to meet the needs of a given patient in a particular situation is an uphill task. Moreover, the drugs may also carry side – effects. The advantages are not also enduring as the drugs tend to “mask” symptoms rather than come to grips with the actual causes of abnormal behavior. Hence, drug therapy cannot be taken as a complete treatment for an abnormal behavior and has to be supplemented with other physical or psychological measures 

Shock therapy.

It involves an artificial induction of deep comas, convulsions, or both by shock-inducing drugs or electric current. This therapy is recommended for patients who are difficult to control or do not benefit from drug therapy.

In insulin shock therapy (IST) or insulin coma therapy (ICT), the patient is given insulin injection intramuscularly early in the morning causing a decrease in the blood sugar level. As a result, he passes through the stages of restlessness, unconsciousness, and convulsions and eventually goes into a coma in which he does not respond even to a pinprick or other painful stimulation. He remains in this stage of coma for about an hour and then his blood sugar level is raised through his own body chemistry or by giving sugar contents resulting at the end of the insulin shock episode. Although insulin shock therapy was formerly used extensively in the treatment of schizophrenia, it has been largely replaced either by newer drug therapies or electroconvulsive therapy.

In Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also referred to as Electroshock therapy (EST), convulsion is produced by passing an electric current through the brain of the patient. For this purpose, he is placed on a comfortable bed and electrodes are placed on each side of his head, and an alternating current, usually between 100 and 200 volts, is passed between them for a period of about two seconds. Patients are generally given muscle relaxants before administering ECT. While inducing current, the shoulders and limbs of the patient are held lightly by nurses and attendants, and a rubber gag is placed between his teeth to prevent injury during the convulsion. About five to ten ECTs are given two to three times a week depending upon the requirements of the situation. There is confusion and loss of memory during the period immediately before and after treatment, but it gradually returns in a few weeks.

The ECT has been helpful for depression, involutional melancholia, mania, schizophrenia, and other psychotic reactions. It is quite popular for controlling cases of agitated depression and schizophrenia and is found useful for patients who do not respond well to drug therapy.