Antipsychotics

Antipsychotic
Drug class
Olanzapine, an example of a second-generation antipsychotic
Class identifiers
Use	Schizophrenia
Clinical data
Drugs.com	Drug Classes
External links
MeSH	D014150

Antipsychotics also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers, are a class of medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They are increasingly being used in the management of non-psychotic disorders. Antipsychotics are usually effective in relieving symptoms of psychosis in the short term.

The long-term use of antipsychotics is associated with side effects such as involuntary movement disorders, gynecomastia, and metabolic syndrome. They are also associated with increased mortality in elderly people with dementia.

First-generation antipsychotics, known as typical antipsychotics, were discovered in the 1950s. Most second-generation drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics, have been developed more recently, although the first atypical antipsychotic, clozapine, was discovered in the 1960s and introduced clinically in the 1970s. Both generations of medication tend to block receptors in the brain's dopamine pathways, but atypicals tend to act on serotonin receptors as well. Neuroleptic, which originates from the Greek word νεῦρον neuron ("nerve") and λῆψις lepsis ("seizure" or "fit"), is a reference to neurological side effects.

Antipsychotics are most frequently used for the following conditions:

They are not recommended for dementia or insomnia unless other treatments have not worked. They are not recommended in children unless other treatments are not effective or unless the child has psychosis.