ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the development of psychopharmacological products used to treat mental health problems. It discusses the effectiveness of psychiatric medication, their proposed mechanism of action and their side effect profiles. The chapter considers the use of other biologically based treatments for mental health problems, including electroconvulsive therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation and neurosurgical procedures. Biological explanations for mental health problems have their origins in ancient Greece with the humoural theory of madness. The measurement scales used to assess symptom response are completed by physicians, psychologists, other mental health professionals, researchers, the clients themselves, their families, or in the case of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder studies with children, by their teachers and carers. The effective management of psychological disorders requires a multidisciplinary team which may include psychiatrists, general medical professionals, mental health nurses, psychologists and on occasions, neurologists.
