Back Antipsigotikum Afrikaans مضاد الذهان Arabic آنتیسایکوتیک AZB Антипсихотик Bulgarian Neurolèptic Catalan Antipsychotikum Czech Antipsykotikum Danish Neuroleptikum German Αντιψυχωσικό Greek Antipsychotic English
Antipsychotic drugs or Neuroleptics are drugs that act on the central nervous system, and that usually have sedating properties. The name neuroleptic was introduced in 1955. From the 1990s, the term antipsychotic is the name that is more commonly used instead. Neuroleptics make the patient calm. In many of the conditions they are used for, the patients lose touch with reality. This is called psychosis. As the name suggests, antipsychotics are also used to lessen the symptoms of psychosis. Today, they are mostly used for the treatment of psychosis, as it occurs in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They can also be used to treat depression and mood swings.
Commonly they are also used for the following classes of conditions:
- Obsessive–compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome
- Depression and personality disorders
- ADHD in children
- Autism-spectrum disoders (mostly against irritability, and self-harming behavior)