Psychiatric disorders from antipsychotic drugs

FIG. 5-3. Effects of neuroleptics on thought disorder and behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia. BPRS, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale TDI, Thought Disorder Index. (From Davis JM, Barter JT, Kane JM. Antipsychotic drugs. In Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ, eds. Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry, 5th ed. Baltimore Williams Wilkins, 1989 1604, with permission.)... 

In this age of sophisticated drug design and biotechnology, the simple lithium ion is stUl the most effective treatment of this destructive psychiatric disorder. Remarkably, in spite of intensive research, scientists stUl do not fully understand the biochemical action of hthium that leads to its therapeutic effects. Because of its similarity to Na, Li is incorporated into blood plasma, where it can affect the behavior of nerve and muscle cells. Because Li has a smaller radius than Na (Figure 7.8), the way Li interacts with molecules in human cells is different from the way Na interacts with the molecules. Other studies indicate that Li alters the function of certain neurotransmitters, which might lead to its effectiveness as an antipsychotic drug. 

Psychiatric The incidence of suicide-related events in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder taking aripiprazole has been studied using administrative data from three US sources [65 "]. Suicide attempts and death by suicide were assessed in patients aged at least 18 years. Among 20489 antipsychotic drug users (8985 patient-years), unadjusted suicide event rates per 1000 patient-years were 21 for aripiprazole 24 for olanzapine 32 for quetiapine 20 for risperidone and 49 for ziprasidone. Compared with current users of the other antipsychotic... 

The NIMH (2007) booklet admitted that psychosocial interventions can help, but with a caveat Numerous studies have found that psychosocial treatments can help patients who are already stabilized on antipsychotic medication deal with certain aspects of schizophrenia. Given that NIMH estimates that 1% of the population suffers from this disorder, that is an enormous number of people who allegedly cannot live without psychiatric drugs. 

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