Antipsychotics

There are two chemical messengers ('neurotransmitters') in the brain called serotonin and dopamine. Dopamine and serotonin send messages related to thinking, emotions, behaviour and perception. In some illnesses, these chemical messengers can be too active or not active enough, producing some of the symptoms of the illness.

Antipsychotics work by reducing or increasing the effect of these chemicals, and correcting the imbalance. This reduces the symptoms caused by having too much or too little of the chemical serotonin or dopamine in the brain. Antipsychotics can be divided into two types, older ‘typical’ antipsychotics and newer ‘atypical’ antipsychotics.

Typical antipsychotics
are by far the most researched and up until now, probably the most prescribed.

• Chlorpromazine
• Thioridazine
• Fluphenazine
• Trifluperazine
• Haloperidol
• Pimozide
• Methotrimeprazine or levomepromazine
• Loxapine
• Fluspirilene
• Droperidol
• Benperidol
• Bromazine
• Pericyazine
• Sulpiride
• Perphenazin
• Pipothiazine.
  

Atypical antipsychotics
are more recently developed drugs have less serious side-effects but less is known about the long term effects of taking these drugs.

• Amisulpride
• Aripiprazole
• Clozapine
• Risperidone
• Olanzapine
• Quetiapine
• Zotepine.