HLTHAGE 1CC3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Chemical Revolution, Chlorpromazine, Imipramine

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Health, Aging and Society
• Course: HLTHAGE 1CC3
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Lecture pack 11: the psychopharmaceutical revolution: past and present. Originated in world war two and was originally intended to be used as an anesthetic but the effects of it actually calmed people down. When people take this drug, people leave the hospital. Since chlorpromazine calmed people down, people thought mental illness was biological. This marks the dominance of the medical model at the beginning of the psychopharmaseutical era. End of psychoanalytic dominance since we have drugs now. End to therapeutic nihilism since we have drugs now. Psychopharmaseuticals came around 50 years ago and this is important because there are drugs that can now aid people with mental illnesses. Explosion of curiosity in biology of mental illness in 1950s. The first anti depressant was imipramine, lsd (acid) , and lithium is for bi polar disorder. The industry and pharmacies could not keep up with the demand of this drug. This drug was used for people who might become patients.