Psycho-Babble Medication | about biological treatments | Framed
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Specificity of Anti-psychotics

Posted by ed_uk on November 16, 2004, at 9:50:24

In 1989, Keck performed a review of several earlier studies examining the efficacy of neuroleptics in the treatment of psychosis, he stated... 'in studies comparing neuroleptics with sedatives, similar improvement was observed with both treatments.'

One psychiatrist (Turns, 1990) responded to these revelations with anguished questions: "Has our clinical judgement about the efficacy of antipsychotics been a fixed, encapsulated, delusional perception . . . Are we back to square one in antipsychotic psychopharmacology?".

I have been interested for some time in the activity of APs against hallucinations and delusions. The question is: Do APs truly have the power to eliminate hallucinations (and delusions) or do they simply allow people to ignore their hallucinations more easily? ie. the 'voices' are quieter and cause less distress.

Put simply, would it be more truthful if APs were once again referred to as being the 'major tranquillisers'? Personally, I prefer the name neuroleptic because of their ability to cause restlessness and distress....subjectively very different from the calm associated with the benzodiazepines, the so-called 'minor tranquillisers'.

What I am suggesting is that the neuroleptics are no more a specific treatment for hallucinations and delusions than the SSRIs are a specific treatment for depression. After all, the SSRIs are so often prescribed as general purpose 'psycho-analgesics'- effective in relieving the symptoms of many conditons but specific for none.

In many ways I'm probably posting this on the wrong board. Unsurprisingly, psycho-babble has always been more popular among anxiety/depression sufferers like myself rather than people with schizophrenia and other psychoses. Most people on psycho-babble use APs to relieve anxiety, insomnia, agitation, hypomania etc.

I would like to hear people's opinions on what I have said.

If anyone on p-babble has suffered from prominent hallucinations, I'd like to ask: what was the effect of the AP? (Unfortunately, it's always impossible to know what would have happened without the medication........ in many cases, equal improvement but a great deal less weight gain!)

Regards,
Ed


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:ed_uk thread:416642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041113/msgs/416642.html