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

Section of Psychiatry of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Bilbao organizes the conference, which will focus on the rational use of medicines in mental health.

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

The popularization and trivialization of some use of some psychiatric medications has contributed to widespread use of a poorly justified. Drugs like Prozac are now part of the culture of XX and XXI century, said 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 regardless of other therapeutic alternatives.


Reflect on the different aspects that condition the assistance to mental health problems today, and more specifically, which determine the use of psychotropic medication. This will be the main focus of Dr. Jose Juan Uriarte Uriarte, department head of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Unit, Hospital de Zamudio. The workshop organized by the Academy of Medical Sciences of Bilbao, to be titled The Use and Abuse of prescription psychoactive drugs. Towards a rational use will take place on Wednesday 28 January at 19.00 in the hall of the Medical Association of Bizkaia (Lersundi, 9 to 5 degrees).

The rapporteur will delve into the idea that the current use of medications in mental health does not always have a rational basis and in the various aspects that determine the use of psychoactive drugs. This will begin by reviewing the various interpretations of the concept of rationality applied to the field of health and social changes that influence current medical practice, with particular reference to the extension of the concept of health. Then, before entering fully into the factors influencing the current spread of psychoactive drugs, the expert will analyze the impacts of low awareness of the causes and pathogenesis of mental illness.

Causes of the spread of psychoactive drugs
The huge spread and success of psychoactive drugs in the last decade has various causes among which are: technical progress and the excessive reliance on technology, the relative effectiveness of other intervention methods (such as psychotherapy), dissemination of assessment models of 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 symptoms of mental illness depend on brain function regulated by chemical substances, and can be modified in a controlled and socially acceptable has contributed to the incredible diffusion of drugs like Prozac, as part of the culture of XX and XXI century.

A simplistic concept of mental illness and human behavior has also helped reduce the stigma attached to treatment with psychotropic drugs, especially antidepressants, which have gone in a few years of being rejected or consumed in secret, to be sued directly by patients, says expert psychiatrist. The extension of the mental health field has certainly been exploited by the pharmaceutical industry, which has stretched to the utmost traditional diseases like depression, and has contributed to an explosion and expansion of mental health problems likely treatment, including adjoining normal situations, such as shyness or hyperactive behavior in children, he adds.

Treatments questioned
However in recent years has challenged the efficacy and safety of many drugs. Moreover, the lack of progress in the knowledge of the causes of mental illnesses just to temper enthusiasm and unrealistic statements indicate JJ Uriarte. Note that psychotropic drugs have traditionally had a competitor in the market for human psychiatric disorders and discomforts. It is psychological and psychotherapeutic treatments that have even greater initial sympathy, suffer from the same or even larger gaps that the speaker says psychoactive drugs. It is necessary to move towards a greater understanding of the factors that are associated with greater efficacy and safety of our interventions, efficacy and safety, which often is achieved with a comprehensive approach that cleverly combines the best of each type of approach, psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic .

It should also be noted that the marketing of new drugs is based on controlled clinical trials. But the information they provide is often difficult to extrapolate to routine clinical practice, so research is needed to reflect more reliably what happens in real life and help us making decisions. Recent studies such as CATIE, have had a major impact in the psychiatric community and have led to deeply held beliefs are shaken.