Thursday, November 20, 2014

Who studies Psychopharmacology?!


Research about drugs and psychology is limited, especially for illicit drugs like the ones previously talk about on this blog. There are some researchers out there that are trying to deepen the pool of knowledge about drugs and their effects on the mind and body. One of those researchers is Dr.Catherine Harmer, she is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and “the director of the Psychopharmacology and Emotional Research Lab (PERL) at the University Department of Psychiatry in Oxford”. The group focuses on the effects of drugs on human models of emotional processing.  While she mainly focuses on drugs that are used to treat depressions and anxiety and not illicit drugs it’s still good to know how these drugs impact the people taking them and what they do to the people’s emotions. Especially since it’s completely possible that people will abuse prescription drugs in the same way they can abuse illegal drugs.

Some of Dr. Harmer’s research is specifically about antidepressants. Her research has lead to the “development of the human experimental models to explore the effects of established and novel drugs for the treatment of depression and anxiety”(Catherine Harmer). She has multiple publications that use this model and various methodologies to support her findings. Results from a series of studies by her team has showed that drugs, specifically antidepressants change emotional processing towards positive things before mood effects can be seen.  Meaning that even though the drug is working in the brain it isn’t as apparent to the person taking it, so that can lead to being disappointed and thinking the drug doesn’t work. Dr. Harmer suggests that to help the recovery process there needs to be a “gradual relearning of non-depressive, emotional associations”.  Research like this can change the way they think about recovery from depression and anxiety. It’s common that people will go off of their antidepressants or antianxiety medications early because they feel like it isn’t working or that they are cured as soon as they start to feel better. But in reality taking these kinds of drugs is a process that needs a lot of time and patience to show a real effect. Taking yourself off of the drugs early can lead to a setback in recovery and not waiting long enough for the effect to catch on can have detrimental effects for the patient.
Recovering is a long and hard road but it is achievable for people that are looking for it. Researching drugs and how they can interact with the brain and the body is something that more people should spend their time looking into. It’s also important to look at all different kinds of drugs. While more research needs to be done on illicit drugs like cannabis, cocaine, heroin and others, there still needs to be research done on the drug prescribed by our doctors and psychiatrists do that we know all that we can about these products we are consuming. Researchers like Catherine Harmer are doing that kind of work for all of us and it is an amazing effort.
If you want to learn more about Catherine Harmer or read any of her publications concerning prescription drugs and neuroscience you can read more at the University of Oxford website.

9 comments:

  1. I like that you put a picture of Harmer on your post- it really helps the reader get a clearer picture. It would be interesting if Harmer had a study comparing depressed patients who take prescribed anti depressants and depressed patients who smoke marijuana. As your post points out, medications can take months to set in, while marijuana's effects on mood are rather immediate. As you also mentioned, people can abuse prescription medication, or even choose to overdose on it. It is possible to abuse marijuana by using more than what is necessary, but it is impossible to overdose on, making it a safer alternative for suicidal patients.

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  2. This was a very interesting post to read about. Dr. Harmer has really done some amazing work and it was very insightful to read about all the work she done. I don’t know a whole lot about antidepressants, but you post really help me learn more about it. I thought it was interesting to read about the impacts certain drugs can have while you are on or off them. I think it greats that researchers like Dr. Harmer are conducting research in order to better understand how drugs truly affect humans. Research such as this really does benefit society in a positive way.

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  3. I find this research interesting and there really is a need for research on antidepressants, simply because I feel that they really do not work alone. Medicine does not change our behaviors that we have learned over a long period of time and not all medicine works. As a person who has been on all types of antidepressants, they did not work for me, they can be very scary and cause more problems than there already are. It's a scary to think that most of our doctors just throw medicine at us and our society has come to believe that they are miracle drugs, once you pop it in, they will change you. Drugs can't change the persons behavior but in my opinion can help with therapy to change the way we think. I really hope that she and others can find a good solution to drug and therapy for depression and anxiety.

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  4. This study is very entertaining and from experience, I have personally seen this type of issue in person. Drugs have a major effect on the mind and the bogy of every individual that uses them and Dr. Catherine is an awesome scholar for being able to dissect this issue. I really enjoyed reading this blog post because it was not hard to understand. The use of the bolded words was very effective to me because it helped my better understand what you were talking about. Researching drugs is a tricky topic and I am glad you got the necessary information to carry out this part of the assignment.

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  5. Interesting post.Your blog provides good information. Dr. Hammer did some really good job. I think the idea that Dr. Hammer of gradual relearning of non-depressive associations can be very effective. I have never had experience of being with someone on anti-depressants. But by reading your blog I came to know why people usually take off from medications early. I think whatever might be the illness the course of a medication should be completed.

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  6. I love the title of this post, very funny! Dr. Catherine Harmer has accomplished a lot in your field. I like how in depth her studies are, looking at the psychology behind the psychology (if this make sense). The psychological reaction of medication consumption is very complex and can lead people to overdose or stop taking medications that are designed to help them. Some responses to medication are very gradual, and other times the effect is successful yet the person was expecting more out of it. This may not be of any relevance, but it reminds me of bipolar disorder and how patients tend to stop taking their medications because they feel “fine” or “okay.” When they stop their medications, it often leads to a crisis and they become manic or depressed.

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  7. Interesting post and interesting title. I wasn’t familiar with this subject and you presented in simple and ‎easy to understand. Dr. Hammer did fairly good research in this field, and it is great to have people like Dr. ‎Hammer who work hard to bring awareness to the community. We hear about the effect of this ‎medication in news when it affects someone who are famous, but the victims might be more than those ‎come to us via news media. I think lawmakers need to revisit their policies regarding drugs and ‎communities need to work together to create safe community for everyone. ‎

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  8. I’m so glad Dr. Harmer is conducting research on this topic. The prescription drug market is huge with a lot of money to be made. With so many eager pharmaceutical companies and doctors willing to prescribe just about anything to a patient, someone has to research the impact of these drugs on a person’s emotional and mental health. Part of the reason I chose not to study to become a Psychiatrist is because they prescribe drugs. If I was certain that the medications being prescribed were free from corporate greed, then maybe I would feel differently about the situation but I think the problem is getting worse and not better.

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  9. I agree with doctor Harmer that there should be a "gradual relearning of non-depressive emotional associations". There are many people who study pharmacology and they should evidently tell you the harmful effects of the chemicals induced in such drugs. C21 H30 02 thats the degenerative component found in many drugs such as marijuana. Others are made out of battery acids and amphetamines. Now, should we really advocate our youth to consume or smoke or inhale such drugs by legalizing it. Also, legalizing one means opening doors to legalize much more damaging drugs.

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