Psychiatric medications act on the biochemical substrates of mental experience — the neurotransmitter systems, receptor architectures, and cellular processes that are the body's translation of citta into matter. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, and stimulants each address different dimensions of the system with varying degrees of precision. A complete understanding requires knowing not only what these medications do but for whom, under what conditions, and in relationship to which non-pharmacological interventions they are most effective.
Each step builds on the last.