History of development of current ideas about disease specific action of psychiatric drugs. (360G-Wellcome-080834_Z_06_Z)

In this research I will look at the history of psychopharmacology to investigate the development of the idea that psychiatric drugs are disease specific treatments. In my psychiatric research I have suggested that there is little evidence for this model of drug action. I suggested that an alternative view of drugs as inducing abnormal states that may occasionally be useful in psychiatric conditions is more consistent with available evidence. Prior to the 1950s drugs were not generally believed to act on the physical basis of disease. Drugs were seen as creating drug induced effects such as sedation, that could be useful in the context of mental hospital care. During the 1950s and 1960s a new generation of drugs were introduced into psychiatry, which gradually came to be seen as acting directly on the physical basis of diseases or symptoms. I am interested in exploring how and why this change of view came about. In particular I am interested in whether professional and commercial interests influenced the changing notions of drug action during this period. To explore the change of view about drug action I will look at the examples of the antipsychotic or neuroleptic drugs and the antidepressants. I will try and establish when antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants came to be seen as disease specific treatments. I have previously investigated how notions of specificity had emerged in relation to the physical treatments in the 1940s. I will look for evidence of whether views about physical treatment methods influenced the adoption of disease specific models of the action of neuroleptic drugs and antidepressants. I will explore how the concurrent interests of the psychiatric profession and the pharmaceutical industry may have influenced the development and adoption of this model of drug action.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 15880
Applicant Surname Moncrieff
Approval Committee Medical History and Humanities Funding Committee
Award Date 2006-06-14T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2005/06
Grant Programme: Title Personal Support: Inactive Scheme
Internal ID 080834/Z/06/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Joanna Moncrieff
Partnership Value 15880
Planned Dates: End Date 2006-12-31T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2006-09-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region East of England