AcutePsychosis.com

Psychosis Treatment Through Medication?

In this third of a series of articles on psychosis we're going to focus on treatments for psychosis besides simple nutrition. The most common form of treatment for psychosis is through medication. The underlying theory on psychosis is that it is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Through certain medications we can correct that imbalance and help a person with psychosis to live a normal and productive life.

PET scans of patients with psychosis who are taking medication for their condition show that there is significant improvement in many cases. Medication that is given to treat psychosis is to stimulate the production of two neurotransmitters known as dopamine and norephinephrine. These neurotransmitters are needed to carry a nerve impulse along a neuropathway. When one of these transmitters is under supplied the message is stopped short of it's intended destination. When this happens, whatever function that circuit is assigned to doesn't work properly.

Your brain circuits are like a computer circuit. They are either on or off. When a circuit is on it makes something happen, like helping a person concentrate on a math problem or read a passage from a novel. When other circuits are on they prevent something from happening. For instance, some circuits prevent a person from becoming over emotional about an event or situation. If this circuit is supposed to be on but isn't because the transmitter didn't work then the person ends up getting upset where a person without psychosis would have remained calm.

Medicines that treat psychosis are not sedatives or tranquilizers. They don't slow down the nervous system. What they do is stimulate various areas of the brain to be more active, actually the reverse of a sedative. By being more active, concentration and attention are improved. This medication helps circuits stay on when they're supposed to be on. The most common medication for psychosis is Ritalin, which is a psychostimulant. The drug appears to work very well in treating psychosis. However, it has gotten a lot of bad press even though it is relatively safe and very effective. Should Ritalin not work other drugs may be used like antidepressants and beta blockers. These have both been shown to be very effective for certain patients.

Other drugs that have been used to treat psychosis are Dexedrine, Desoxyn, psychosiserall, and Cylert, which are all stimulant drugs like Ritalin. The most common antidepressants are Desiprimine, Anafranil, Elavil, Tofranil, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. Then there are neuroleptics which were developed to treat serious mental disorders like psychosis and schizophrenia. In patients with severe psychosis symptoms these have been very effective treatments. The most common of these drugs is Haldol and Mellaril. However the AMA cautions that these drugs should only be used in the most severe cases of psychosis. Then you have mood stabilizers which are lithium based drugs that are very effective in certain cases in calming a person down.