A Review on ADRs due to Antipsychotic Drugs

WHO defines an ADR as, "Any response to a drug which is noxious and unintended, and which occurs at doses normally used in man for prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy of disease, or for the modification of physiological function". A psychosis is a mental disorder characterized by a disconnection from reality. Antipsychotics are the most effective drugs which are used in the psychiatry in the maintenance therapy of mania, psychoses and schizophrenia. The antipsychotics drugs are chemically disparate but have the common property of alleviating the symptoms of organic as well as functional psychosis. But they also have a capacity to cause a wide range of potential adverse drug reactions that can lead to non-compliance that can impair quality of life, may cause the extra pyramidal symptoms which can lead to discontinuation of therapy and in extreme cases it may be fatal. Knowledge of assessment of ADR due to different antipsychotics is necessary. It helps to choose to safe treatment and reduce the risk of occurrence of ADRs by the clinicians. Antipsychotics exhibit their own spectrum of adverse effects including hypotension, seizures, weight gain, increased risk of diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia. Occurrence of ADR had largely affected hospital stay of patients indirectly influencing economic burden on patients. ADR are often poorly identified and reported in day to day medical practice. As we collect more and more information about ADRs, we need an active surveillance system regarding identification and reporting of ADRs with antipsychotic drugs.