Pharmacologic treatments for behavior problems

Most of the future advances in therapy with behavioral medicine probably will be pharmacologic. Newer developments in tricyclic antidepressants, specific and nonspecific anxiolytics, narcotic agonist-antagonists, and benzodiazepines will have great relevance for veterinary medicine. As the field of behavioral medicine expands, its paradigm hopefully will enlarge to include combination therapy and the implementation of neuropharmacologic intervention as a diagnostic tool. At present, the veterinary practitioner can effectively aid many common behavioral problems, with the glaring exception of most aggressions, using extant drugs.