Mental illness drugs

Antipsychotic drugs represent one of the major advances in the management of mental illness. Drugs are currendy available that diminish the symptoms of psychosis and improve a patient s ability to cooperate... 

Emperors, dictators, and democratic governments alike finance wars by creating excess money, that is, by monetary inflation. Similarly, therapeutic states finance their wars on mental illnesses, drugs, and other bad habits or unwanted behaviors by diagnostic inflation. During the past twenty years, numerous authors and publications, in professional journals and the popular press alike, have criticized and ridiculed one or another aspect of the medicalization of life—without, however, telling us what they regard as the objective standard of disease. 

Rice DP et al (1990) The economic costs of alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness, US Department of Health and Human Services, San Francisco... 

Professor Kerwin has published very widely on many aspects on the use of drugs in mental illness. His publications include Neurobiology and Psychiatry (Cambridge University Press, 1995) and the Maudsley 2001 Prescribing Guidelines (Martin Dunitz, 2001). 

In the case of mental illness, new drug therapies have especially been the focus of attention, partly because psychotropic medication has, for a long time, contributed little to the overall cost of treatment, but also because, with the advent of new generations of antipsychotics and antidepressants, healthcare providers are now searching for justification for the use of these much more expensive treatments. 

US National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety (in particular generalized anxiety disorder or GAD) and depression are the most prevalent mental illnesses. In the United States alone, an estimated 4 million adults suffer from GAD and nearly 19 million adults are affected by depressive disorders. As GAD and depression are often present together, most patients suffering from these disorders are treated with the same drugs [1]. 

Social and economic harms Some invasions of privacy or breaches of confidentiality could result in embarrassment with one s business or social group, loss of employment, or criminal prosecution. Confidential safeguards must be strong in these instances. Examples of these particular sensitivities include information about alcohol or drug abuse, mental illness, illegal activities, and sexual behavior. Participation in research may also result in additional costs to the participant. 

The discovery of psychopharmacological medications was revolutionary because they provided a means of treating illnesses that were otherwise intractable. With the exception of electroconvulsive treatments for severe depression, there were no medical treatments for disorders that did not respond to psychotherapy. Once established, the drugs led to an ongoing search for more effective and safer medications. A second reason for their revolutionary status is that they furthered understanding of mental illnesses and normal brain function. Investigations of their therapeutic mechanisms led to theories of the neurochemical bases of mental illnesses. 

The term psychotomimetic was coined to compare the effects of hallucinogens to the symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions. However, the effects produced by hallucinogens and mental illness are qualitatively different. While drug-induced hallucinations tend to be more visual, auditory hallucinations are most common in schizophrenia. The hallucinogenic drugs discussed here may induce positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations), but do not induce the negative symptoms (e.g., cognitive deficits, social withdrawal) of schizophrenia. 

For more information about drugs that affect the human nervous system, see C. Regan, Intoxicating Minds How Drugs Work, Columbia University Press, New York, 2001 N. C. Andreasen, Brave New Brain Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome-, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001. 

There is no doubt that between them mental illness and the mental effects of recreational drugs are of major medical and lay interest and of considerable public concern. The hrst section of this chapter provides an account of the biochemistry and physiology of normal mental activity, to enable a better understanding of how far changes in the biochemistry can explain mental illnesses and the effects of recreational drugs. 

No attempt will be made to give an overview of the main pathways of the several dozen neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and co-transmitters which are possibly involved in the aetiology of mental illness. Instead a summary is given of the relevant pathways involved in the synthesis and metabolism of those transmitters which have conventionally been considered to be involved in the major psychiatric and neurological diseases and through which the psychotropic drugs used in the treatment of such diseases are believed to operate. 

If, as the CCLE is concerned, the new pharmacotherapy drugs might later be mandated for certain segments of the population, who is most at risk From 1907—1978 over 60,000 Americans were forcibly sterilized under state sterilization laws. These laws targeted criminals, the mentally handicapped, people with low IQs, and those suffering from mental illness. 

Trifluoperazine is one of the most active antipsychotic drugs. A moderate stimulatory effect accompanies the neuroleptic effect. Trifluoperazine is unique in that, patients instead of the usual stiffness and weakness characteristic of phenothazine derivatives, become more lively. This drug has a strong anticonvulsant activity. It is widely used in psychiatry for treating schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The most common synonyms are mobadid, triftazin, stelazine, cahnazin, and others. 

This drug is primarily used for supportive therapy of patients suffering from chronic mental illnesses after treatment in the hospital. It is suitable for use in ambulatory practice because of the lack of expressed hypno-sedative effects. Synonyms of this drug are imap, redeptin, and others. 

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