Treatment and Therapeutic Interventions: The Use of Medication

Abstract

Medication may be used to treat two broad types of mental health problem: psychiatric disorders (such as depression, schizophrenia or obsessive‐compulsive disorder) and challenging behaviours (such as self‐injury, impulsive aggression or inappropriate sexual behaviour). The effectiveness of medication in the treatment of psychiatric disorder is well established for the non‐learning‐disabled population. In clinical practice, medication seems to be broadly as effective for people with learning disabilities. The effectiveness of medication in the treatment of challenging behaviours is less well established, although evidence for effectiveness is accumulating for some types of problem behaviour. When treating behavioural problems, medication is often used in combination with other management strategies. Knowledge of side effects is important, because people who have difficulty communicating may not be able to Report problems before they become severe. When using medication, it is important to try to achieve the best benefit: risk ratio, taking into account the person's other health problems and disabilities. It may be necessary to measure treatment effects, using standardised assessments or individual measures of target symptoms or behaviours.