Antipsychotic Diseases

Antipsychotics are medications that physicians use to treat psychotic disorders such as Schizophrenia, Delusional disorder, Paraphrenia, and Substance-induced psychotic disorders. These disorders are characterised by the patient’s inability to make good judgments, think with a clear head, communicate effectively, relate to society, and understand reality. Antipsychotic drugs are also useful in the treatment of bipolar conditions that involve extreme cases of manic behaviour. Examples of these drugs include Thorazine and Trilafon. These drugs belong to a drug class called phenothiazines. They work by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain. The drugs can be beneficial, however, Steen et al. (2014) argue that the medicines have several harmful effects such as changes

In 1955, antipsychotic medications were introduced to help mental disorders. These medications are usually taken orally in which help relieve symptoms for periods of days. The misuse or abuse of the medications are low. There are three generations of antipsychotic medications. The first generation is known for reducing hallucinations and delusions, but not affecting problems like disorientation or depression. An example would be chlorpromazine, brand name being Thorazine. Some negative side effects of taking the first generation drugs are Parkinson’s-like symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, and weight gain. Next, the second generation drugs minimized the outcome of the individual getting Parkinson’s-like symptoms. An example of this generation would be Clozaril. “A unique feature of Clozaril is the 1 to 2 percent chance of developing a potentially lethal blood disease called agranulocytosis” (Levinthal 282). This disease decreases white blood cells and affects the immune system. If early signs of this disease start to appear the patient will stop taking Clozaril and recover. Lastly, the third generation has shown to be the most effective on schizophrenia. Abilify is an example of this generation drug. It does not have a risk of Parkinson’s, tardive dyskinesia, or diabetes. Abilify blocks specific serotonin receptors in which prevents negative side effects from happening. These different

As we have seen, treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic drugs can have impressive results in terms of decreasing active symptoms, although it does nothing to alleviate negative symptoms or to improve cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment has the drawback of extremely serious and even fatal side-effects. Newer generation atypical antipsychotics offer more hope, as they can treat both active and negative symptoms, and also improve cognitive functioning. Moreover, they have fewer side-effects. However, treatment is complicated by the fact that results are unpredictable; and in addition the side-effects that they do have can be very serious, such as diabetes, which in itself is life-threatening. However, as the potential side-effects are known, the physician has leeway to choose a drug which is a good match for the patient’s clinical profile. Then, once the patient’s symptoms have been much alleviated with an appropriate newer generation atypical antipsychotic, the patient should be able to also benefit from a range of psychotherapeutic interventions. It is argued that this is the best treatment regime to choose, as it is likely to result in the greatest improvement in quality of life, coupled with the lowest risk of potentially devastating side-effects, or of death. This is likely to be better than utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, the results of which are not reliably known – although research has certainly shown that it is less efficacious

Treatment will often include antipsychotics for the illness itself, anticholinergic drugs to help treat extrapyramidal symptoms (movement disorders), that are caused by antipsychotics, and in some cases cognitive remediation. Cognitive remediation techniques are time and labor intensive, because cognitive deficits are multiple and vary from person to person. Such techniques seem to work best when specifically tailored to each patient. ("Schizophrenia Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Other Pharmacotherapy," 2018). When combined with drug therapies, cognitive remediation is successful. Drugs included in therapy are Risperidone, Clozapine, and Olanzapine, which produce their effects with reduced incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms. Clozapine has the adverse effect of dangerously depressing bone marrow function and the patient must have their blood count checked on a biweekly basis, if white blood cells drop too low, it is discontinued. (Timby & Smith, 2014) Other antipsychotics include Haloperidol, Fluphenazine, Risperidone, and Olanazapine, all of which block dopamine receptors. Common anticholinergic drugs are trihexyphenidyl and benztropine. These drugs should all be taken as prescribed and should never be stopped abruptly due to withdrawal symptoms or more severe adverse

Antipsychotic medications are proven to help in treating acute psychosis and to reduce the risk of future psychotic events. People with severe symptoms require hospitalization to ensure safety, proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and proper hygiene. Some common medication used to treat schizophrenia are, trifluoperazine, flupenthixol, loxapine among others. There is a side effect from every medication we take, and there is no exception for antipsychotic medications. These medications may cause, drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, rapid heartbeat, sensitivity to the sun, rashes, and menstrual problems for women. People taking these medications should not operate machinery or drive a car until they adjust to all of their medications. However, people might need to try several medications until they find the appropriate medication for them. People should not stop taking any medication without the proper recommendation from their doctor. Not taking their medication adequately may cause a relapse and the symptoms come back or usually their symptoms get

Therapy for psychosis often works best when combined with medication, although this is not always

The other category of medication is new generation medicine. These are also known as atypical antipsychotics, and they are different from traditional (typical) medications because of the less severe side effects that they have when it comes to movement. Examples of atypical antipsychotics are closapine, pisperidone, and quetiapine. The medications work much like traditional medications; they regulate dopamine and serotonin, another neurotransmitter that controls memory and mood functions.

When it comes to treatment for schizophrenia, there are many different antipsychotic medications that can be administered to patients.

Since schizophrenia may not be a single condition and its caused are still unknown, current treatment methods are based on both clinical research and experience. These approaches are chosen on the basis of their ability to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia and to lessen the chances that symptoms will return. Antipsychotic medications reduce the risk of future psychotic episode in-patients who have recovered from an acute episode. Even with continued drug treatment, some people who have recovered will suffer relapses. Far higher rates are seen when medication in discontinued. In most cases; it would not be accurate to say that continued drug treatment "prevents" relapses; rather it reduces their intensity and frequency. The treatment of severe psychotic symptom reappear on a lower dosage, a temporary increase in dosage may prevent a full-blown relapse. (http://nimh.nih.gov/publicat/schizoph.htm), National Institute of Mental Health

Schizophrenia treatment has developed to have two specific classes of drugs, typical antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics. Typical antipsychotics were the first type of drugs to be used on schizophrenia patients. They are also known as the ‘first-generation’ drugs. Atypical antipsychotics, or ‘second-generation’ drugs are newer drugs that are now often used in replacement of the ‘first-generation’ drugs. However this progression of drug treatment for schizophrenia patients has shown little change in effectiveness as studies were unable to find distinct difference. The only real difference between the two can be seen in their prices and side effects. Although, the typical antipsychotics have now tapped into the fast-growing generic drug

A new study confirms the earlier that someone who is starting to show symptoms of schizophrenia gets treatment, the better the outcome for that person. Studies on this subject over the past few years say, that the greater the interval between the onset of psychosis and its treatment, the greater the severity of negative symptoms. Thus, ameliorating the symptoms of the initial psychosis may not only ease the pain and suffering experienced by patients and their families but will also improve long-term prognosis by slowing down the progression of the illness, assisting their ability to respond better to antipsychotic medication. Unfortunately, side effects become apparent while taking these drugs and can consist of a patient's mental alertness being affected as well as dizziness, dry mouth, weight gain, ear pain, back pain, headache, etc. It is also worth mentioning, that if a patient is considered a threat to themselves or others, hospitalization would be utilized in such severe

Blocking both of those receptors is believed to prevent negative and positive symptoms. Although unsure why, when taking this medication there are also side effects. These side effects may include weight gain, diabetes and lipid disorders. (“How Antidepressant and Antipsychotic Medications Work”) As you can see, schizophrenia medications frequently cause side effects. Researchers are still trying to find a way to treat schizophrenia without having such major side effects. Although atypical medication has less drastic side effects than conventional medication they both have reasons as to why patients would not want to take them. Some patients would rather be schizophrenic than experience these side effects. A very common problem with schizophrenia is that patients refuse to take their medication because of the side affects but then still suffering from their mental disturbances. 55% of patients do not take their medication because they do not believe they have a disorder. In up to 70% of patients taking conventional antipsychotics they suffer from side effects involving nerves and muscle movement and coordination

Medication such as antipsychotics are effective for most patients. They can help manage many troubling symptoms. Although antipsychotics cause many side effects, such as dizziness fatigue, anxiety, weight gain, nausea, constipation and vomiting. because of all these side effects scientist have come up with second generation antipsychotics. These antipsychotics are Abilify, risperdal, zyprexa and quetiapine. These antipsychotics ease symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. These drugs help balance the levels of dopamine and serotonin in brains.

□ Patient is trained to learn to cope with stress and detect signs of relapse

Haloperidol is a first generation antipsychotic which works in the brain and helps to balance the amount of dopamine to improve the patient's behavior, mood and thinking. It is given to patients once a month. The side effects of this drug includes: tachycardia, sleepiness, nausea, allergic reactions and drop in blood pressure. The most common side effects on both type of antipsychotics are: weight gain, movement disorders (Tardive dyskinesia), drowsiness, dry mouth, higher risks of mortality and diabetes. Tardive dyskinesia is the abnormal and involuntary movement of the face, tongue and extremities, which is caused by the use of antipsychotic medications for many years.