How can a biopsychosocial viewpoint of psychopharmacology help us to better understand drug action, abuse and addiction, understand and treat mental disorders, and determine policy for all classes of psychoactive drugs?
Drug Action
o Summarize the biological (pharmacological) viewpoint on how drugs work in the brain
o Are all effects of drugs due solely to their biological MoA within the brain?
o How can we explain placebo effects?
o What are psychosocial factors that might influence drug effects, abuse potential, and addiction likelihood?
o How do these psychosocial factors interact with genetics and biology?
o Defend your position using SPECIFIC evidence from the textbook, the Cult book, and at least 2 academic peer-reviewed sources from the group talks.
Psychiatric Medications
o Summarize how mental disorders are thought of and treated from both the biological viewpoint and the psychosocial viewpoint?
o Do psychiatric medications do more harm than good? Why or why not?
o When, if ever, should psychiatric medications be used, and for how long?
o What are some alternative and non-pharmacological therapies for various disorders, and are they more or less effective than pharmacological therapies?
o Defend your position using SPECIFIC evidence from the textbook and at least 2 academic peer-reviewed sources from the group talks.
Policy
o Summarize the current scheduling system in the United States, and discuss the history of the War on Drugs.
o Is our current scheduling system effective and scientifically based?
o What are the social costs of scheduling drugs?
o What are the benefits of decriminalization, and do these outweigh the negatives?
o What policy changes might you recommend in order to help combat addiction, abuse, and overdose?
o Defend your position using SPECIFIC evidence from the textbook, the Cult book, and at least 2 academic peer-reviewed sources from the group talks.
