5 The Interface of CHAPTER Psychopharmacology and Psychotherapy

摘要: The medical model of mental illnesses assumes that the processes underlying the etiogenesis are of a biological nature, and thus attempts to alter these pathological processes using pharmacological and biological therapies to achieve a change in the disease processes. 1 On the other hand, the proponents of the psychological model of illnesses, as given by the school of thought supporting psychotherapy, suggest psychotherapeutic interventions based on a therapeutic bond formed between the patient and the therapist. It is now well known that mental disorders have a multifactorial etiology spanning across biological, familial, psychological, and sociocultural factors, 2 and hence their management needs to be targeting at these etiological factors, thus including a multidisciplinary management encompassing biological, psychological, and social interventions. In many treatment settings, especially in the low-and middle-income (LAMI) countries, because of a lack of resources, trained professionals, time, and financial constraints, pharmacotherapy is used as the mainstay of treatment and psychotherapeutic interventions are not frequently opted as a treatment option. Additionally, in the complex family structures in collectivistic societies such as India, one needs to make suitable modifications while administering psychotherapies which are classically developed in the western world. 2 For many years, the pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions have been viewed in competition to each other, with advocates of each group claiming theirs to be superior to the other. 3 But lately, the advantage of collaboration over competition has been …