Neuropsychopharmacology
What is Neuropsychopharmacology? Neuropsychopharmacology is the branch of neurosciences devoted to the study of drugs that affect nervous tissue and alter behaviors. Specifically, the study of the effects of drugs on neurons, their synapses, and circuits is neuropharmacology, while the study of the effects of drugs on behaviors, including emotional and cognitive mental activities, is psychopharmacology; thus, these comprise neuropsychopharmacology as a whole. [1] In a perspective published in Neuropsychopharmacology, leaders from the National Institutes of Health address how using appropriate language to describe mental illness and addiction can help to reduce stigma and improve how people with these conditions are treated in health care settings and throughout society. The authors define stigma as negative attitudes toward people that are based on certain distinguishing characteristics. More than a decade of research has shown that stigma contributes significantly to negative health outcomes and can pose a barrier to seeking treatment for mental illness or substance use disorders. Mental Illness Thirty-five percent of people with serious mental illness in the U.S., and nearly 90% of people with substance use disorders, do not receive treatment. [2] The perspective authors point to evidence that stigma-related bias among clinicians can contribute to a treatment-averse mindset and to flawed clinical care, including failure to…