Antipsychotic therapy is treatment with antipsychotics, also called neuroleptics or major tranquilizers, psychiatric medications developed primarily to manage psychosis, including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia and disordered thought, most often in schizophrenia and related conditions. They are also used as mood stabilizers for bipolar disorder and as an add-on treatment for depression that has not responded to standard antidepressants. First-generation antipsychotics, developed from the 1950s through the 1970s, work by blocking dopamine receptors, while second-generation drugs also block serotonin receptors, and a newer third generation acts through partial rather than full blockade of dopamine receptors; common side effects include movement disorders, sexual dysfunction and weight gain, long-term use can cause tardive dyskinesia, and withdrawal from the drugs can itself cause insomnia, tremor and psychotic symptoms.
Facts
Connections
Treats
Antipsychotic therapy is a standard treatment for delusional disorder.
Antipsychotic therapy is standard first-line treatment for schizoaffective disorder.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Chlorpromazine
WikipediaHistory section, paragraph on the 19 January 1952 first psychiatric administrationQuote, History section, paragraph on the 19 January 1952 first psychiatric administration
Psychiatrists were reluctant initially, but on 19 January 1952, it was administered (alongside pethidine, pentothal and ECT) to Jacques Lh., a 24-year-old manic patient, who responded dramatically; he was discharged after three weeks, having received 855 mg of the drug in total.
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