The use of psychotropic drugs to treat mental health problems do not always respond to rational criteria.

Section of Psychiatry of the Academy of Medical Sciences is organizing the conference in Bilbao, on the rational use of medicines in mental health services.

• A simplistic concept of mental illness and human behavior has contributed to extending treatment with psychotropic drugs for conditions that can hardly be regarded as psychiatric disorders, and should be approached differently.

• The popularization and trivialization of some use of some psychiatric medications have helped to extend the use of poorly justified. "Drugs like Prozac are already part of the culture of the XX and XXI century," says Dr. Uriarte Uriarte.

• In recent years it has been called into question the efficacy and safety of many of these drugs, especially when used indiscriminately, with little control, and without regard to other therapeutic alternatives.


Reflect on the different aspects that affect the assistance to mental health problems at present and, more specifically, those that affect the use of psychotropic drugs. This will be the main goal of Dr. Juan José Uriarte Uriarte, department head of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Unit of Hospital de Zamudio. The lecture, organized by the Academy of Medical Sciences of Bilbao, to be entitled "The Use and Abuse of the prescription of psychoactive drugs. Towards a rational use ", will take place today Wednesday 28 January at 19.00 in the hall of the Medical Association of Bizkaia (Lersundi, 9-5 th).

The rapporteur will deepen the idea that the current use of medications in mental health does not always have a rational basis, as well as the different aspects that influence the use of psychoactive drugs. To do this start by reviewing the various interpretations of the concept of rationality applied to health and social changes that influence the practice of medicine today, with special reference to the extension of the concept of health. Then, before you jump right into the factors influencing the current distribution of psychotropic drugs, the expert will analyze the impact of poor knowledge of the causes and pathogenesis of mental diseases.

Causes of the spread of psychoactive drugs
The enormous success and spread of psychoactive drugs in the last decade has "various causes including: technical advances and the excessive reliance on technology, the relative effectiveness of alternative methods of intervention (such as psychotherapy), dissemination of models for evaluating interventions (clinical trials), social changes, changes in psychiatric nosology and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry, "says Dr. Uriarte. To all this must be added that the extension of the idea that the symptoms of mental illness depend on functions regulated by brain chemicals, and can be modified in a controlled and socially acceptable manner has contributed to "the incredible diffusion of drugs Prozac, as part of the culture of the XX and XXI century. "

"A simplistic notion of mental illness and human behavior has contributed to reducing the stigma associated with treatment with psychotropic drugs, especially antidepressants, which have been in a few years of being rejected or consumed in secret, to be sued in a direct by patients, "explains the expert psychiatrist. The extension of the mental health field has undoubtedly been exploited by the pharmaceutical industry, which has "stretched to the unspeakable traditional diseases like depression," and has contributed to an "explosion and expansion of mental health problems likely treatment, including situations bordering on normalcy, "such as shyness or hyperactive behavior in children," he adds.

Treatments questioned
However in recent years has been put into question the efficacy and safety of many drugs. Moreover the "lack of progress in the knowledge of the causes of mental illness eventually temper enthusiasm and unrealistic claims," says JJ Uriarte. It is noteworthy that the psychotropic drugs have traditionally had a competitor in the market for human diseases and psychiatric illness. These are the psychological and psychotherapeutic treatments, which "have even greater sympathy initial suffer from them, and even larger gaps that the psychotropic drugs," says the lecturer. It is necessary to move towards a greater understanding of the factors associated with greater efficacy and safety of our interventions, efficacy and safety, which often is achieved with an approach that cleverly combines the best of every type of collision, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological .

Furthermore it should be noted that the marketing of new drugs based on controlled clinical trials. But the information they provide "is often difficult to extrapolate to the clinical routine," so there is a need for research to reflect a more accurate what happens in real life and help us making decisions. Recent studies such as CATIE, have had a major impact on the psychiatric community and have led to deep-rooted beliefs are shaken.