ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the physiological basis of mental health problems and neurological disorders and the action of the major drug groups used in the treatment of these problems. Many mental health drugs seem to exert their effects on the sections of the brain that control emotions and feelings. Drugs acting on the synapses of the brain do so in a variety of ways, but essentially, by various means they tend either to potentiate or to attenuate the action of a particular neurotransmitter. Antipsychotic drugs have a tranquilising and sedative effect on the mind and are used selectively for serious problems such as schizophrenia, severe anxiety and violent or unpredictably impulsive behaviour. The COMT inhibiting drugs such as entacapone and tolcapone prevents the degradation of levodopa outside the CNS. The chapter relates to the physiological pathologies that affect the brain and often result in psychological disorders that may edge them towards the category of mental health problems.
