The psychopharmaceuticals are one of the most influential tools in psychology and psychiatry, both in terms of intervention and research.

However, the fact that its commercialization and popularity has spread over much of the planet does not prevent some confusion about what a psychotropic drug really is.

What exactly are psychopharmaceuticals?

Psychopharmaceuticals are chemical substances that influence mental processes by acting on the nervous system.

However, we must take into account that there are many substances that directly or indirectly affect the neuron networks of our body, and that is why the concept of psychopharmaceutical has a lot to do with the type of effects that the substance has, its intensity and the legal regulations that determine how and when it must be consumed.

Types of psychotropic drugs

Within the wide variety of psychopharmaceuticals that have been developed there is also a very wide range of functions . The fact is that if the nervous system is capable of carrying out all kinds of processes, such as allowing decision-making or regulating emotional states, the substances that influence these groups of neurons can also produce very varied effects depending on the type of psychodrug in question.

Although each class of substance has very specific effects, a classification of the types of psychotropic drugs can be established . These are the following:

Anxiolytics and sedatives

Anxiolytics are a class of psychotropic drugs that decrease the signs of anxiety and the agitation associated with it without producing numbness. Among the most important anxiolytics are benzodiazepines.

Sedatives, on the other hand, do lower the level of consciousness. Both types of psychopharmaceuticals can be used as tranquilizers.

Mood stabilizers

This class of psychopharmaceuticals is used especially in mood and similar disorders, with bipolar disorder being the most typical.

Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics, also called neuroleptics, are a type of psychoactive drug whose effects are usually related to the mitigation of the effects of psychosis and schizophrenia.

Antidepressants

Antidepressants are psychopharmaceuticals used especially in the treatment of major depressive disorders, and disorders related to difficulty in controlling certain impulses.

Among the types of antidepressants we find some like MAOIs, SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants.

How do psychotropic drugs work?

Usually, the basic function of psychotropic drugs is to make certain neurons behave differently than they were acting. They do this by directly or indirectly influencing the way these nerve cells pick up certain types of substances called neurotransmitters .

So, for example, a psychotropic drug can cause a certain class of neurons to stop capturing such a high amount of dopamine, which creates a chain reaction that makes the symptoms of a disorder better.

Psychopharmaceuticals and their side effects

Psychopharmaceuticals are basically a type of medication whose target is the central nervous system. However, the fact that their “ideal” target is very specific areas of the brain does not mean that these substances only have effects there .

Like all drugs, psychopharmaceuticals are not intelligent organisms, without sets of molecules that “fit” in some parts of the body and not in others. That means they act where they are supposed to act, but also in many other parts of the body. In other words, psychotropic drugs have side effects, many of which can be very negative.

The psychoactive drug in the fight against mental illness

Traditionally, psychopharmaceuticals have been medicine’s answer to cases of mental illness. That means in part that their use has not been intended to apply to healthy people, and it also means that their use has been a way to combat symptoms of disorders that were understood to have a cause in the individual.

However, there is currently a very intense debate about how we should understand mental disorders and therefore how they should be treated by health specialists. This debate fully affects the use of psychopharmaceuticals , which in some cases can go from being the nucleus of the treatment to becoming one more complement in a type of approach to the problem that serves to intervene more in the context in which the person lives and not so much in the person as something isolated.

About this topic, you may be interested in this article: “The differences between syndrome, disorder and disease”