Different Antipsychotics Have Different Effects on Brain Volume

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First generation antipsychotics seem to cause general brain volume loss, while second generation antipsychotics seem to both increase and decrease the thickness of different parts of the brain.

Smoking Cessation and Psychiatric Drugs Cause the Most Suicidal and Homicidal Reactions

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The popular smoking cessation drug Chantix is the medication that most frequently makes people feel suicidal or homicidal, according to figures gathered by the...

Antipsychotics for Anorexia: Weight Gain and Sedation as Treatment

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A study published online today (May 26, 2012) in Current Psychiatry Reports recommends Zyprexa as "elusive" pharmacologic solution to anorexia nervosa. On the basis...

“Should We Stop Using Antipsychotic Medication?”

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In a recent interview, Nancy Andreasen, former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Psychiatry, reaffirmed her earlier findings that antipsychotics shrink brain tissue. "We spent a couple...

Schizophrenia Prevents Cancer; Antipsychotics May Cause It

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In a review of all 59,233 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia in Sweden between 1965 and 2008, researchers from Sweden and the U.S. identified 6137...

Call to Monitor Adverse Effects of Antipsychotics in Youth

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Researchers point to the risks of using antipsychotics with youth and caution against the practice.

PTSD and Psychiatric Medication Linked to Dementia in Older Veterans

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Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and taking SSRIs, novel antidepressants, or atypical antipsychotics are more likely to develop dementia.

Antipsychotics and Drug Addiction

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Dopamine supersensitivity as a result of sustained antipsychotic treatment can lead to compulsive drug seeking and drug-taking behavior, according to the theory offered by...

Large Study Confirms Elevated Risk of Diabetes When Prescribed Antipsychotics

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A large longitudinal study finds once more that being prescribed antipsychotics significantly increases the risk of diabetes.

Review Links Antipsychotics with Risk for Heart Attacks

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A systematic review published this week in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that patients taking antipsychotic drugs were at nearly twice the risk...

Experts Decry Dangerous Use of Antipsychotics in Children

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In a featured article for Psychiatric Services, psychiatrists from Dartmouth raise the alarm on the increasing numbers of children prescribed dangerous antipsychotic drugs. Despite the fact that data on the safety of long-term use of these drugs in this vulnerable population “do not exist,” the rate of children and adolescents being prescribed antipsychotic drugs have continued to increase over the past fifteen years.

Psychiatric Medication Use Associated with Triple the Risk of Stroke

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Common psychiatric medications double the risk of heart attack and triple the risk of stroke, according to research presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress...

Researchers Test Harms and Benefits of Long Term Antipsychotic Use

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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.

Major Risks from Drug Interactions in Common Psychiatric Polypharmacy

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It is very common for psychiatric patients, especially those diagnosed with schizophrenia, to be prescribed two or more psychiatric medications at once, and this...

Most Cases of Tardive Dyskinesia are Permanent

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Only one out eight patients, out of 108 with tardive dyskinesia, recovered from the disorder in an Emory University Movement Disorders Clinic study. The...

Children Diagnosed with ADHD Younger are More Likely to get Multiple Medications

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New research demonstrates that children diagnosed with ADHD at younger ages are more likely than those diagnosed later to receive multiple medications within five years of their diagnosis.

Infants Exposed to Psychotropic Drugs During Pregnancy At Risk

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New research published in the July issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that the use of mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and hypnotics during pregnancy is associated with increased health risks to the infant.

Antipsychotics Even Riskier For The Elderly Than Previously Thought

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Antipsychotic medications that are commonly being used to help control behaviors in elderly people with dementia seem to be causing premature deaths at high rates.

More Evidence That Antipsychotics Shrink the Brain

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European researchers who reviewed 43 imaging studies of first-episode psychosis found evidence that antipsychotics cause a decrease in gray matter volumes in the brain....

Study Reduces Over-prescription of Antipsychotics in Older Adults

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New intervention shows promise in reducing over-prescription of off-label antipsychotics in older adults.

20-Year Data Show Antipsychotics Do Not Reduce Psychosis

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Martin Harrow's study tracing the effects of antipsychotics on 139 schizophrenia (SZ) and mood-disordered patients over 20 years, just published in Psychological Medicine, finds...

Antipsychotics Increase Mortality Risk in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

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A new study in JAMA Neurology finds that the use of antipsychotic drugs more than doubled the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s...

Cognitive Function Improved by Reducing Antipsychotics

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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...

Still Mistreating the Elderly with Psychiatric Drugs: Antipsychotics

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The percentage of seniors in the United States prescribed potentially deadly antipsychotic drugs increases with age. A new study reveals that in the face of serious risks of strokes, fractures, kidney injuries, and death, over seventy-five percent of seniors given antipsychotics do not have a diagnosis for a mental disorder.

British Journal of Psychiatry Editorial Urges Rethinking the Use of Antipsychotics

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The August issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry offers an editorial stating that, as "mental health services appear to have overestimated the strength...