Posted by med_empowered on August 23, 2006, at 21:40:16
In reply to Re: Are antipsychotics good for depression??? » Frequent Fryer, posted by JahL on August 23, 2006, at 20:37:02
Use of antipsychotics in varying doses for depression goes all the way back to Thorazine in the 50s. The first antidepressant/AP combos were introduced in the 60s; the idea was to "cool off" anxiety, hostility, etc. and allow the AD to get to work.
Today's antipsychotics tend to have pretty strong serotonin antagonsim and some (like zyprexa) are very "dirty" drugs, meaning they hit up receptors all over the place. Combined with reuptake inhibitors, some people find them very useful. I didn't. I kind of thing the risk of AP-induced dysphoria and movement disorders outweights any benefits, but some people like Symyax and other AP/AD combos so...who knows.
Personally, given the long-term risks, I'd try other treatment strategies first.
poster:med_empowered
thread:679424
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060818/msgs/679465.html