Posted by JohnL on September 24, 2000, at 6:26:26
In reply to psychosis/haldol/risperdal, posted by pullmarine on September 24, 2000, at 3:16:06
> Hi, i want to know if anyone has had psychotic braeakdowns and if they were given these meds. does one every truly recover from severe psychosis. do you feel that the meds (particularly haldol) caused long term damage to your sense of self and mental abilities, not to mention emotions.
>
> johnJohn,
I had a psychotic episode once. It was totally cured by the serotonin antidepressant Paxil. Psychosis is a result of excess elevated dopamine, a brain chemical. Dopamine is often elevated to excess when other transmitters like serotonin or norepinephrine are at extremes. Sometimes it's elevated to excess on its own, in which case an antipsychotic can reduce dopamine to restore normal function.Yes people do completely recover from psychotic episodes. But only with the correct medication for that particular person's unique chemistry. It could be an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, a chemical stabilizer (Lithium), or an electrical stabilizer (anticonvulsant) that ends up working the best, depending on the underlying cause. If the person is not completely recovered, they are on the wrong medication.
The wrong medication will also cause undesirable consequences, such as decrease in mental abilities and numbing of emotions. The correct medication will not do that. I've seen case studies of situations similar to what you describe, where patients as old as 70 years have tried dozens of medications and been through dozens of doctors in their lifetime, and yet never been well, often worse instead. But when they did try the right medication, they were completely well almost immediately and stayed that way the rest of their lives.
It's purely a matter of finding the right medication. Total recovery without adverse effects is achievable. The doctor and the patient must be willing to compare results of trials on different medications from different medication classes, and avoid the temptation to match a medication to a particular diagnosis. We can't be so naive as to think we know what the underlying chemistry is. Instead, we have to try to pinpoint it with comparison trials. In the end, we still may not know the exact chemistry, but we will have achieved total success because we explored all options and left no stones unturned.
You'll be hard pressed to find many physicians that think this way. There are some at major medical schools. But outside of that, not many. Until this way of thinking gains support, questions like the ones in your post will continue to be repeated over and over. Good questions though.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:45169
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000905/msgs/45175.html