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FAQs About Antipsychotic Drugs

Antipsychotic medicine is a diverse and complex class of drugs. To provide more information about the history and use of antipsychotic drugs as treatment for various disorders, below are some common questions and answers.

What Are Typical vs. Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs?

Conventional antipsychotic medications, also known as typical or first-generation, were developed in the 1950s and continue to be prescribed today for severe psychosis. The typical antipsychotic drugs listed here are available at PlanetDrugsDirect.com:

• Haloperidol (Haldol)

• Loxapine (Loxitane)

• Thioridazine (Mellaril)

• Thiothixene (Navane)

• Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)

• Perphenazine (Trilafon)

• Chlorpromazine (

  Thorazine

  )

While effective, conventional antipsychotic medicine has a high risk of side effects. As a result, a new category of antipsychotic drugs was developed and approved for use in the 1990s. These second-generation medications are known as atypical antipsychotic drugs and are less likely to have the severe side effects of their predecessors:

• Risperidone (Risperdal)

• Olanzapine (Zyprexa)

• Quetiapine (Seroquel)

• Ziprasidone (Geodon)

• Aripiprazole (Abilify)

The newest atypical antipsychotic drugs on the market and available at PlanetDrugsDirect.com are:

• Paliperidone (Invega)

• Asenapine (Saphris)

• Lurasidone (Latuda)

What Are the Side Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs?

The side effects of antipsychotic drugs, both conventional and, to a lesser degree, atypical, result from these drugs altering dopamine levels in the brain. Although psychosis symptoms are reduced or removed, so is the brain's ability to control muscle movements. This inability causes one of the more severe side effects of antipsychotic drugs — tardive dyskinesia, or random, involuntary muscle movements typically in the face.

Tardive dyskinesia is known as an extrapyramidal effect. Other extrapyramidal effects include:

• Dystonia. Sudden, painful muscle stiffness.

• Akathisia. Motor restlessness.

• Parkinsonism. Tremors, imbalance, stiffness.

• Seizures.

More common side effects of antipsychotic drugs include dry mouth, dizziness, sedation, weight gain and sexual problems.

Why Do Doctors Prescribe Antipsychotic Drugs?

Initially for schizophrenia, there are now many psychiatric conditions that antipsychotic drugs treat, including:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Delirium

• Insomnia

• Agitation

• Aggression

Antipsychotic drugs are commonly combined with mood stabilizers when treating bipolar disorder.