Drug Use in Outpatient Treatment
KARL RICKELS M.D.1
1 Associate professor of psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and director of psychopharmacology, Philadelphia General Hospital
Drugs may be a useful adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of the neuroses, affording the patient a measure of symptom relief so that he can cope with his problems more efficiently. The author stresses, however, that appropriate drug treatment prescribed for appropriate, realistic reasons is of the greatest importance for the achievement of good therapeutic results. The anti-anxiety drugs, or minor tranquilizers, are discussed in terms of their specific efficacy in the alleviation of symptomatology and their possible side effects. The effects of social class, education, and other nondrug variables upon clinical outcome are also examined.
