Mental illness and simulated driving: before and during treatment

By use of a car simulator we have tested the driving behaviour of 46 inpatients before and during treatment. On the basis of the presence of psychotic symptoms the patients were divided into a psychotic and a non-psychotic group and matched according to age, sex, and driving experience. Before treatment the psychotic group had a statistically significant prolongation of brake time in such a way that their performance deteriorated more markedly over trials. During treatment there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups, indicating that antipsychotic drugs given to psychotic patients do not impair their driving, but on the contrary increase the vigilance.