Antipsychotics, Madness & Dopamine

The whole system needs quality improvement work. The problem is that the drug companies have taken over the educational process within the medical schools. It’s now to the point that the drug companies are almost exclusively responsible for the education that young doctors get. They’re the ones who are teaching the medical students. They’re the ones who are teaching the resident physicians. They’re the ones who are giving the lectures that young doctors hear. The drug companies have taken over the process of education. What’s happening is that young doctors are coming out of medical school and they’re being taught that the way to treat mental illness is to use drugs. They’re not being taught any other way, and they’re not being taught that there are other ways. They’re not being taught that there are other ways to treat mental illness. For example, delusional disorder seems to be an environmental, rather than a mental problem. In a healthy environment, with healthy dynamics, a person would be able to navigate their meaningful apophenia, poisson synchronicities, and theories based on evidence.

Both, antipsychotics and mood regulators are known to reduce a human being’s lifespan. Mortality is particularly more likely in children, adolescents and elderly people. Antipsychotics work by blocking dopamine receptors in the brain. Such an effect reduces the symptoms of psychosis. Common side effects of antipsychotics include weight gain, drowsiness, and dry mouth. Some antipsychotics can also cause movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, as well as Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms (e.g. chorea). Furthermore, antipsychotics can cause tardive dyskinesia, a condition that causes involuntary and repetitive movements of the tongue, lips, face, trunk or extremities. Tardive dyskinesia is often irreversible.

In the Children’s Mental Health Services (CMHS) in Wakefield, UK, the prevalence of diabetes in children and young people (CYP) receiving antipsychotic medication was 15.8% with a further 19.1% of CYP being at high risk of developing diabetes. The CMHS is a tertiary service that serves children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years with a diagnosis of a severe mental illness. It includes children and young people with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and psychosis. In the UK, the first line treatment for psychotic illness in children and young people is risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic. Risperidone is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and weight gain. In a UK study, the incidence of diabetes in children and young people taking risperidone was 1.9%. The prevalence of diabetes in children and young people taking other antipsychotics was not reported. In the US, the prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking antipsychotics was 4.5%. The prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking risperidone was 2.3%. The prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking other antipsychotics was not reported.In Australia, the prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking antipsychotics was 5.4%. The prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking risperidone was 3.2%. The prevalence of diabetes in children and adolescents taking other antipsychotics was not reported.