Antipsychotic Adherence Research Overlooks Key Information
Researchers argue for a shift away from a focus on antipsychotic adherence toward understanding service users’ diverse patterns of use.
Recovery Rate Six Times Higher For Those Who Stop Antipsychotics Within Two Years
People with "serious mental illness" who stop taking antipsychotics are more likely to recover, even when accounting for baseline severity.
Cognitive Function Improved by Reducing Antipsychotics
A 28-week randomized controlled study by researchers in Japan, Canada and the United States finds that a 50% reduction of risperidone or olanzapine significantly...
Some Avoid Antipsychotics Because They Value Psychosis
Side effects, mistrust, stigma, forgetfulness and lack of insight have all been studied as reasons that up to 75% of people with a schizophrenia...
Disconnect Between Antipsychotic Prescribing and Metabolic Screening
Despite American Diabetes Association and APA recommendations of glucose and lipid testing for all patients started on antipsychotics, there is a disconnect between prescribing...
Discontinuing Psychotropics Reduces Falls in Elderly
Australian researchers look at the literature on the effect of psychotropics on falls in the elderly; largest effect of any randomized trial was achieved...
How Do We Test the Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Antipsychotics?
A new attempt to study the neurological effects of long-term exposure to antipsychotics uses healthy volunteers on minimal doses for 15 days.
Study Explores Cognitive Effects of Antipsychotics
Reduced usage of antipsychotics in first-episode psychosis was associated with improved executive functioning.
Researchers Test Harms and Benefits of Long Term Antipsychotic Use
Researchers from the City College of New York and Columbia University published a study this month testing the hypothesis that people diagnosed with schizophrenia treated long-term with antipsychotic drugs have worse outcomes than patients with no exposure to these drugs. They concluded that there is not a sufficient evidence base for the standard practice of long-term use of antipsychotic medications.
Children on Antipsychotics 50% More Likely to Develop Diabetes
Antipsychotic drugs increased the risk of children developing diabetes by 50%, and with an antidepressant added, their risk doubled.
NMS in 2nd Gen. Antipsychotics: Similar, But Younger
A study released online today by the British Journal of Psychiatry shows that the clinical profile of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is similar in 1st- v....
Sudden Antipsychotic Withdrawal—Not Low Dose—Leads to Relapse
A new article in Lancet Psychiatry debunks past studies claiming that those on low doses of antipsychotics are more likely to relapse.
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimer’s
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Increasing Use of Antipsychotics for Disruptive Behavior in Children
Canadian researchers systematically reviewed all randomized controlled trials of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and placebo in the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders in children, finding...
45% of Children and Adolescent Inpatients Prescribed Antipsychotics
In a rare long-term study of antipsychotics used in children and adolescent inpatients, the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT followed 3,851 consecutive admissions...
Increased Risk of Movement Disorders From Antipsychotics in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
Large cohort study demonstrates that those with an intellectual disability are at an increased risk for movement disorder side effects of antipsychotics.
A Guide to Minimal Use of Neuroleptics
This guide, by psychiatrists Volkmar Aderhold and Peter Stastny, provides a comprehensive review of antipsychotics and an evidence-based rationale for avoiding their use in first-episode psychosis, and for minimizing their long-term use.
For People “At Risk for Psychosis,” Antipsychotics Associated with Worse Outcomes
Researchers studied whether antipsychotics could prevent transition to full psychosis and found that the drugs worsened outcomes.
Very Slow Taper Best for Antipsychotic Discontinuation
An article in JAMA Psychiatry advises very slow tapering for best results when discontinuing antipsychotic drugs.
Alberta Long-term Care Homes Reduce Antipsychotic Use by 50%
The provincial government health service of Alberta, Canada recently concluded a successful pilot project that reduced the use of antipsychotic medications for patients with...
Antipsychotics for Depression: Added Risk for Little Benefit
A review of research on antipsychotic medications as an adjunctive treatment for depression published this week in PLoS Medicine finds that the widespread practice...
Antipsychotics During Pregnancy Linked to Infant Problems
“Live, healthy babies are the most common outcome following the use of antipsychotic medication in pregnancy,” conclude Australian researchers in a study that was...
Antipsychotic Risperidone Raises Risk of Male Breast Enlargement
Taking the antipsychotic medication risperidone significantly increases men's chances of developing gynecomastia, or breast enlargement, according to a study by University of British Columbia...
Antipsychotics Linked to Cognitive & Memory Impairments
Finnish reseachers report in Schizophrenia Research that antipsychotic use is associated with cognitive and memory impairments. The University of Oulu team studied forty people...
Clozapine-induced Stuttering Affects 1% Of Patients
A team of psychiatrists reviewed 654 cases in West Ireland to find that nearly 1% of all patients taking the antipsychotic clozapine had experienced clozapine-induced stuttering.
