The psychological consequences of the sedating side effects of antipsychotic medication: A systematic review

Sedation is a common side effects of antipsychotic medication. It is poorly defined but is generally understood to encompass excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty thinking or concentrating, and oversleeping. Sedation is often cited as impacting on functioning and wellbeing, however no review to date has assessed this relationship.

This review aims to explore the impact of the sedating side effects of antipsychotic medication on patient functioning and wellbeing.

Papers were identified by searching the databases PubMed, PsycINFO, EBSCO, CINAHL, and Clarivate Web of Science. A narrative synthesis and quality appraisal was conducted.

Eleven peer reviewed papers met the eligibility criteria. Sedation was often identified as the most common side effect, but was not uniformly defined. Results consistently supported a negative effect of sedation on functioning (e.g. ability to perform day-to-day tasks and motivation). With respect to wellbeing, a negative impact of sedation was identified on quality of life and anhedonia, but less consistent interactions with other domains (e.g. anxiety), with few papers reporting on these links.

Despite the plausible impact of sedation on patients being widely discussed, there is surprisingly little empirical research in this area. The research that exists broadly supports a negative impact of sedation on functioning and wellbeing, although there are some complexities requiring further investigation, and many domains (e.g. interaction with mood) have not been substantively investigated. Sedation may be an important adverse side effect that is relevant to consider in improving recovery from psychosis.