Antipsychotics

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...

Researchers from Tufts and Harvard find in a review of 233 medical charts of psychiatrically hospitalized youth at three points in time (1991, 1998...

Tapering antipsychotics slowly and with supported decision-making may improve care for patients with psychosis.

Researchers in Brazil find, in a meta-analysis, that only 30% of youth deemed to be of ultra high risk of psychosis do in fact...

Elderly people in Sweden are five times more likely to be taking antipsychotics if they have a diagnosis of dementia, according to research published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. And among those people with dementia, the lower their education the higher the likelihood they’re taking antipsychotics.

With increasing evidence that psychiatric drugs do more harm than good over the long term, the field of psychiatry often seems focused on sifting through the mounds of research data it has collected, eager to at last sit up and cry, here’s a shiny speck of gold! Our drugs do work! One recently published study on withdrawal of antipsychotics tells of long-term benefits. A second tells of long-term harm. Which one is convincing?

The approval of the digital antipsychotic may open the door for more pharmaceutical company profits without evidence of benefits to patients.

A review of research on antipsychotic medications as an adjunctive treatment for depression published this week in PLoS Medicine finds that the widespread practice...

In a nine-year study of all 2,224 residents of Leppävirta, Finland who were 65 years old or older, researchers found that the 332 residents...

A recently published study from noted critical psychiatry expert Joanna Moncrieff explored the barriers that prevent clinicians from helping service users in discontinuing or...

A new study shows how different patients respond to tapering antipsychotic medication under expert guidance, highlighting personal empowerment and the complexities of withdrawal.

Members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Psychiatry Products division go on the defensive in a new article, responding to concerns about the agency’s approval of digital aripiprazole.

A study published today in the American Medical Association's journal JAMA Psychiatry reports that patients whose antipsychotic treatment was reduced or discontinued (DR) experienced a recovery...

New research counters the long-held assumption that a longer duration of untreated psychosis is associated with worse outcomes.

Research undermines the prolonged use of antipsychotics in schizophrenia treatment, suggesting improved social functioning and quality of life with discontinuation.

A new review of antipsychotic trials conducted over the last 24 years finds that the placebo response rate is steadily increasing, and drug response is decreasing.

Long-term treatment with antipsychotic drugs is currently considered the standard treatment for patients diagnosed with ‘schizophrenia.’ A new study challenges this practice, however. The...

A partnership designed to decrease antipsychotic use in elderly patients may have led to increased use of medications with even worse risk/benefit profiles.

Researchers found some antipsychotics to be worse than others for causing sexual dysfunction.

Children as young as four in foster care are taking three or more psychotropic medications, and the length of time that children aged six...

A systematic review of the limited research available on the long-term effects of antipsychotics finds fewer symptoms in those off of the drugs.

A study of 42 state Medicaid programs found that 58% of prescriptions for antipsychotics  were not for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Off-label prescribing was most prevalent...

A large review and meta-analysis of 167 studies across 60 years dissects placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials of antipsychotic drugs.

Research from Germany finds that people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective diagnoses given multiple medications - an antipsychotic plus a benzodiazepine or more than one...

New research published in the August issue of Psychiatric Annals evaluates the results of randomized control trials on the use of various psychotropic drugs for patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Despite the “American Psychiatric Association’s practice guidelines endorsement of SSRIs as first-line therapies for BPD,” the results of the meta-analysis reveal that pharmacotherapy in BPD is “not supported by the current literature,” and “should be avoided whenever possible.”