Psychotic disorders etiology

The specific etiology of psychotic disorders has not currently been sufficiently investigated. It is believed, however, that the initial cause of psychotic behavior may originate from an imbalance of dopaminergic functions in the CNS. Many researchers adhere to the opinion that a large increase of dopamine activity in specific regions of the CNS is the cause of abnormal behavior. 

Antipsychotic medications, previously referred to as major tranquilizers or neuroleptics, are effective for the treatment of a variety of psychotic symptoms—such as hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorders—regardless of etiology. The term major tranquilizer is a misnomer because sedation is generally a side effect, and not the principal treatment effect. Similarly, the term neuroleptic is based on the neurological side effects characteristic of older antipsychotic drugs, such as catalepsy in animals and extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) in humans. 

It should be emphasized that, whereas neuroleptic control of schizophrenic symptoms has been spectacularly successful since the 1960s, neuroleptic treatment does not cure the psychotic patient, who will almost certainly relapse if medication is discontinued. Nor does our molecular insight answer any questions about the nature, etiology, or possible biochemistry of psychiatric disorders. 

Regarding pathological processes, the C23S polymorphism has been examined for its association with psychotic symptoms in late-onset AD and both etiology and drug response in schizophrenia and mood disorders. In a late-onset AD sample, Holmes et al. (22) confirmed an earlier finding of an association between the presence of the Ser23 allele and visual hallucinations In addition,... 

SHORT-TERM TREATMENT The antipsychotic drugs are effective in acute psychoses of unknown etiology, including mania, acute idiopathic psychoses, and acute exacerbations of schizophrenia. The best studied indications are for the acute and chronic phases of schizophrenia and in acute mania. Antipsychotic drugs also are used empirically in many other neuromedical and idiopathic disorders with prominent psychotic symptoms or severe agitation. 

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