Effectiveness of Neuroleptics

How effective is the 'biological treatment'?

One third of patients are positively affected by neuroleptics and are able to return to work and resume an independent life.

For the the remaining two thirds the picture is very different. One third experiences cyclic hospital admissions because of repeated emotional distress, trying to maintain some quality in between admissions. The remaining third are those patients whose lives are engulfed by the mental health world whether this entails being accommodated in secure units/hospitals or dwell in mental health accommodation in the community supported by mental health workers. It is these latter patients who are unable to resume a quality of independent life which is experienced by the first group of patients.

30% of patients are only minimally improved or can be clinically worse. Davies et al (1980)

Moncrieff J, Cohen D (2006) Do Antidepressants Cure or Create Abnormal Brain States? PLoS Med 3(7): e240 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030240

How would I know whether neuroleptics would benefit me?

Currently neuroleptic prescribing is random and no psychiatrist is able to guarantee who will respond favourably and who will not. So this is all a matter of trial and error. However in general medicine prior to expensive drug treatments, a screening test known as the genotyping test can be taken determines whether a specific drug treatment is suitable for a patient.

A genotyping test determines the presence or absence of certain naturally occurring enzymes within the body and connects this information to the profile of specific drugs. This subject area is known as Pharmacogenetics.

When a genotyping test shows a drug is unsuitable, it is fruitless for doctors prescribing that drug, as it would not be therapeutic and will result in a poor outcome. When patients are prescribed unsuitable drugs they experience many and severe side effects due to the accumulation of toxicities in the body and brain.

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