Can antipsychotic drugs be withdrawn from selected patients?
When psychosis occurs, antipsychotic drugs are the mainstay of treatment. Now, researchers are questioning whether keeping patients on the drugs indefinitely is beneficial. Ian Falloon, who pioneered studies in the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia and is now coordinating trials on optimal treatment in Europe, discusses this problem in a recent issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. There is overwhelming evidence from double-blind controlled trials that the pharmacotherapy for acute psychotic episodes as well as the prevention of subsequent episodes is extremely beneficial, has low mortality and relatively low morbidity. However, it…
