Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Psychosis and Antipsychotic Drugs: Overview

Psychosis and Antipsychotic Drugs: Overview

The term "psychosis" refers to a spectrum of mental disorders characterized by abnormal thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors. It can manifest as mood disorders, dementia, delirium with psychotic features, substance-induced psychosis with psychotic features, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia. Among all these disorders, schizophrenia is the most common psychotic disorder, affecting 1% of the worldwide population. Psychotic...

Drug Therapy

Drug Therapy

The advent of drug therapy has profoundly shaped modern mental health care, providing targeted treatments for a range of psychological disorders. Psychotherapeutic drugs, classified into antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medications, address symptoms across anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. While these medications have transformed patient outcomes, they require careful management due to their potential side effects and limitations.
Antianxiety Medications

Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy

Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy

Antipsychotic drugs are a crucial treatment method for acute and chronic psychoses, bipolar illness, and behavioral disorders. The selection of these drugs depends on several factors, including the state of the disease, clinical judgment, possible drug interactions, and the patient's sensitivity to adverse effects. In immediate scenarios, such as delirium and dementia, short-term treatment with low doses of high-potency typical or atypical agents can effectively manage symptom exacerbation.

Antipsychotic Drugs: Typical and Atypical Agents

Antipsychotic Drugs: Typical and Atypical Agents

Antipsychotic drugs are classified into first-generation (typical) drugs including phenothiazines; and second-generation (atypical) drugs. Chlorpromazine hydrochloride (Thorazine), a phenothiazine derivative, broadly impacts the central, autonomic, and endocrine systems. This drug, along with typical agents like haloperidol (Haldol), primarily works by antagonizing D2 receptors, thus reducing dopaminergic neurotransmission. However, typical antipsychotics can cause side effects such as sedation...

Antipsychotic Drugs: Therapeutic Uses and Side Effects

Antipsychotic Drugs: Therapeutic Uses and Side Effects

Antipsychotic drugs primarily block dopamine and serotonin receptors and cholinergic, adrenergic, and histaminergic receptors, thereby reducing hallucinations and delusions in conditions like schizophrenia. However, they can trigger unwanted extrapyramidal effects such as dystonias, Parkinson-like symptoms, and tardive dyskinesia.
Despite these side effects, antipsychotics are used therapeutically for various purposes, including managing schizophrenia, preventing nausea and vomiting, curbing...

Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents

Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents

Atypical antidepressants, including bupropion (Wellbutrin), mirtazapine (Remeron), nefazodone (Serzone), trazodone (Desyrel), and vilazodone (Viibryd), offer unique mechanisms of action. Bupropion weakly inhibits dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake, aiding depression treatment and smoking cessation, with a low risk of sexual dysfunction. Mirtazapine enhances serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmission, leading to sedation, increased appetite, and weight gain. As a result, it helps treat...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Comparative effectiveness and safety of pharmacological treatments for rapid tranquilisation in emergency settings: a systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

The lancet. Psychiatry·2026

Same author

Rapid tranquillisation for psychiatric in-patients with a diagnosis of personality disorder: under-recognised issue.

BJPsych open·2025

Same author

Mental Health Services for Serious Mental Illness: Scoping Review of Randomised Controlled Trials.

Nursing open·2025

Same author

Effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for severe agitation in real-world emergency settings: protocol of individual-participant-data network meta-analysis.

Systematic reviews·2024

Same author

Classification of all pharmacological interventions tested in trials relevant to people with schizophrenia: A study-based analysis.

Health information and libraries journal·2021

Same author

Rapid tranquillisation in a psychiatric emergency hospital in Lebanon: TREC-Lebanon - a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of intramuscular haloperidol and promethazine <i>v.</i> intramuscular haloperidol, promethazine and chlorpromazine.

Psychological medicine·2021

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra

Published on: September 8, 2021

Antipsychotic combinations for schizophrenia.

Nicola Maayan¹, Karla Soares-Weiser¹, Jun Xia²

¹Enhance Reviews Ltd, Oxford, UK.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

|October 1, 2014

Summary

This review examines the effectiveness and safety of antipsychotic combination treatments for schizophrenia. It aims to determine if combining antipsychotics offers benefits or risks for patients with this condition.

More Related Videos

HSV-Mediated Transgene Expression of Chimeric Constructs to Study Behavioral Function of GPCR Heteromers in Mice

HSV-Mediated Transgene Expression of Chimeric Constructs to Study Behavioral Function of GPCR Heteromers in Mice

Published on: July 9, 2016

Diagonal Method to Measure Synergy Among Any Number of Drugs

Diagonal Method to Measure Synergy Among Any Number of Drugs

Published on: June 21, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra

Published on: September 8, 2021

HSV-Mediated Transgene Expression of Chimeric Constructs to Study Behavioral Function of GPCR Heteromers in Mice

HSV-Mediated Transgene Expression of Chimeric Constructs to Study Behavioral Function of GPCR Heteromers in Mice

Published on: July 9, 2016

Diagonal Method to Measure Synergy Among Any Number of Drugs

Diagonal Method to Measure Synergy Among Any Number of Drugs

Published on: June 21, 2018

Area of Science:

Psychiatry
Pharmacology

Background:

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder requiring effective treatment strategies.
Antipsychotic medications are a cornerstone of schizophrenia management.
The use of antipsychotic combinations is a clinical practice that warrants thorough investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the efficacy of antipsychotic combination therapy in schizophrenia treatment.
To assess the safety profile of antipsychotic combination therapy in schizophrenia patients.

Main Methods:

This is a protocol for a systematic review.
The review will synthesize existing evidence on antipsychotic combinations for schizophrenia.

Main Results:

Results are pending completion of the systematic review.

Conclusions:

Conclusions will be drawn upon synthesis of the evidence regarding efficacy and safety.