Physiological Psychology: Citalopram, Effects and Source Analysis

This assignment delves into the pharmacological drug Citalopram, commonly used to treat depression, by examining its physiological effects, benefits, and side effects through a comparison of scholarly and website resources. The analysis incorporates findings from academic articles focusing on clinical trials and the drug's impact on patients with traumatic brain injuries and geriatric depression. The assignment contrasts these with information from websites like MedlinePlus and Wikipedia, which provide more application-oriented details on the drug's mechanism of action, dosage, and metabolism. The study highlights the varying reliability and authenticity of different sources, concluding that while academic resources offer more consistent and research-backed information, they often lack the practical application details found in website resources. The assignment emphasizes the importance of critically evaluating information sources when studying psychoactive drugs and their effects.

Running head: PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Physiological psychology
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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The pharmacological drug that has been chosen is Citalopram, which is used to treat
depression. The academic resource used for this drug is “Cortisol Supplement Combined with
Psychotherapy and Citalopram Improves Depression Outcomes in Patients with
Hypocortisolism after Traumatic Brain Injury” by Luo et al. (2015). The second academic
resource chosen for the paper had been “Citalopram, Methylphenidate, or Their Combination
in Geriatric Depression: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial” by
Lavretsky et al. (2015). And the website resource chosen is Medlineplus.gov and Wikipedia.
The academic resource mentioned that the drug is used to treat depression but exact
mechanism of action was not mentioned. The website mentioned it is a drug used as a SSRI
antidepressant that treats depression symptoms by increasing the concentration of serotonin
in the blood. The trial was used only the in paper, duration of trial was found to be 3 weeks.
The dosage was mentioned for the drug in both of the academic sources chosen, 30 mg and
40 mg respectively, although n o mentioning of the medical norms and standards is clear in
any of the academic resources.
The next question can also be properly answered by the academic resource, although
one of the articles had a control group and the other did not have a control design. The article
by Lavretsky et al. (2015) had mentioned that it is a placebo trial with a control group,
although the article by Luo et al. (2015) had no control group. Although, it has to be
mentioned that measures taken by the researchers to ensure the groups being compared were
equivalent except for variations in the dosage is not highlighted by the authors in the article
by Lavretsky et al. (2015). Alternative explanations were not present in any of the articles
which is a considerable limitation of the study. Both articles mentioned the participants and
their characteristics. For the article by Luo et al. (2015), a total of 68 patients with depression
following closed traumatic brain injury were recruited for this study. The 68 subjects
consisted of 45 males and 23 females aged between 18 to 70 years old. For the article by

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Lavretsky et al. (2015) had 43 older outpatients diagnosed with major depression comparing
treatment response in three treatment groups: methylphenidateplus placebo(N=48),
citalopram plus placebo (N=48), and citalopram plus methylphenidate (N=47). Hence, based
on the information shared, it can be mentioned that neither of the sample size had been
diverse enough, although the outcome had been consistent with the findings.
It has to be mentioned that the effectiveness functionality and other related
application based information about the drug has been more easily accessible from the
website resources that have been used than the academic resources. The physiological impact
of taking this drug has been clearly mentioned by Medlineplus.gov (2018) website, that drug
functions by enhancing the concentration of serotonin helping in restoring the emotional
balance the patient. All the possible benefits of taking this drug have not been mentioned by
either of the websites or articles chosen along with cost of the drug. The side effects have
been illustrated by both of the websites and the most common side effects include nausea,
diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting, heartburn, weight loss, frequent urination, fatigue, dry
mouth, muscle or joint pain, and heavy menstrual periods. Although, neither the academic
resources nor the website resources chosen for the study had mentioned the exact time
duration required for this drug to take effect on the behavior. Considering the mitigation and
elimination of the drug the Wikipedia resource as mentioned to measure metabolism of the
drug is done in the liver mostly by CYP2C19, along with the fact that send off the track is
cleared by the liver and 20% of the problems clear by the Kidneys (Wikipedia.org, 2018).
On a concluding note it can be mentioned that the academic resources have provide
more consistent relevant and research oriented information regarding the drug and its
effects. Although the website resources that has been chosen for the drug that provide more
application and use oriented information regarding the drug although it left valid authenticity,
which academic resources can provide. As per my best understanding the academic

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resources are more reliable and authentic, also it is not capable of providing application
oriented information further exploratory research can bridge this gap effectively.

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References:
Lavretsky, H., Reinlieb, M., St. Cyr, N., Siddarth, P., Ercoli, L. M., & Senturk, D. (2015).
Citalopram, methylphenidate, or their combination in geriatric depression: a
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 172(6), 561-569.
Luo, L., Chai, Y., Jiang, R., Chen, X., & Yan, T. (2015). Cortisol supplement combined with
psychotherapy and citalopram improves depression outcomes in patients with
hypocortisolism after traumatic brain injury. Aging and disease, 6(6), 418.
Medlineplus.gov (2018). Citalopram: MedlinePlus Drug Information. [Online] Retrieved
from https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a699001.html [Accessed on 17th Nov]
Wikipedia.org (2018). Citalopram. [Online]. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citalopram [Accessed on 17th Nov]