Psychotropic drugs

introduction

Psychotropic drugs are various drugs that are used to treat a mental illness and to minimize the symptoms of this illness so that a normal everyday life is possible for the patient.

If you translate the word psychotropic drugs, it means something like "a medicine for the soul". Thus psychotropic drugs have the right to To heal souln or to repair it again. Because psychotropic drugs are only partially entitled to a complete cure, in some cases psychotropic drugs are also used to make life with the mental illness easier for the patient and his environment.

In general, most of them are Psychotropic drugs to drugs that target the brain and can therefore also have very general effects on the body. This can lead to some psychotropic drugs have quite high side effects to have.

root cause

There are several different causes that can lead to a patient Psychotropic drugs must take. One of the most common causes of a patient being treated with psychotropic drugs is that depression. Overall, every 5th to 10th person suffers. Patient suffered from depression once in their life, which explains why the use of Psychotropic drugs is very big in this area. In addition, there are now many different drugs on the market, all of which can be used as psychotropic drugs for moderate to severe depression.

In addition to depression, there are other causes that can lead patients to take psychotropic drugs. On the one hand, psychotropic drugs can be used in patients who suffer from a psychosis, i.e. a psychological perception that does not correspond to reality. On the other hand, psychotropic drugs are used in patients who have severe anxiety and are therefore under great tension. These patients often feel unable to leave their homes because they are too afraid that something might happen to them on the street. The psychotropic drugs can help patients to participate more actively in life again by gradually reducing their fear so that they are able to leave the house again and do everyday things such as shopping. In addition to psychotropic drugs against anxiety, patients with severe anxiety often have to take psychotropic drugs that have a sleep-stimulating effect. However, these psychotropic drugs, which also have a sleep-stimulating effect, are also used by patients with great problems falling asleep or staying asleep. However, these are often psychotropic drugs that can lead to dependence, which is why the use of these psychotropic drugs should usually be limited to a very short period of time.

Psychotropic drugs also include drugs that are used to delay dementia. In this case, the psychotropic drugs cannot bring any cure and the patient will sooner or later become demented despite drugs, but the drugs can delay the dementia somewhat and thus give the patient a few valuable years of life. However, it is important to note that these psychiatric drugs do not claim to be cured and that the patient, with or without psychotropic drugs, will become demented if diagnosed.

Read more on this topic at: Dementia signs.

Psychotropic drugs that are used to prevent an acute psychosis or an acute schizoaffective disorder are also not entitled to a cure. These psychotropic drugs are not used for healing but rather for prophylaxis and should always be used when the patient has the feeling that an acute psychosis could occur again. In addition to the psychotropic drugs already mentioned, there are also drugs that are used for alcohol or drug withdrawal as well as drugs against Parkinson's or psychotropic drugs that are supposed to increase performance. Overall, there are many reasons why psychotropic drugs can be used.

General effects of psychotropic drugs

Overall, there is a very wide range of different Psychotropic drugswhich is why it is very difficult to find a general mode of action. However, it can be stated that all psychotropic drugs affect the brain Act. Here they ensure that various messenger substances (Neurotransmitters) are either increased or decreased in the brain. As a result, various information is passed on in the brain or it is suppressed, depending on which effect is currently desired. Other psychotropic drugs make different Receptors in the brain are blocked so that no information can be passed on, others stimulate a receptor so that the flow of information occurs. So the effect of psychiatric drugs is very diverse and very complex, which is why this may also apply to their side effects.

Psychiatric drugs for depression

Psychotropic drugs that are used for depression are also known as Antidepressant. These drugs are intended to lighten the patient's mood and prevent negative thoughts from getting out of hand. However, antidepressants are not only used for depression; they are psychotropic drugs that also treat Panic attacks, at general anxiety disorders, at eating disorder like anorexia, at chronic pain, at sleep disorders or at Obsessive-compulsive disorder can be used. Thus, the field of application of these psychotropic drugs is very broad. The drug classes are also very variable. Overall, there are many psychotropic drugs that can be used as antidepressants. This includes the group of tricyclic antidepressantswho like selective reuptake inhibitors Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, the Monoamine oxidase inhibitors, the Serotonin and melatonin agonists as well as various herbal remedies or drugs for acute treatment. Overall, there are many different psychotropic drugs that can be used as antidepressants for various disorders and that sometimes differ greatly in their mode of action. Due to these different modes of action, however, it is possible to find the individually correct psychotropic drug for almost every patient.

Read more about therapy for depression

Psychotropic drugs for anxiety

There are several psychiatric drugs that are used in Anxiety disorders and partly also at sleep disorders can be used. These so-called Tranquilizers ensure that the patient feels less anxiety, so they have an anti-anxiety effect (anxiolytic). This is why these psychotropic drugs are sometimes called Anxiolytics designated. In addition to this anti-anxiety effect, they also ensure that the patient becomes more relaxed (sedating). The most commonly used anxiolytics are the so-called Benzodiazepines. These psychotropic drugs are drugs that are highly effective in relieving anxiety, promoting sleep, and helping the patient relax. Since these psychotropic drugs sometimes heavily dependent can do, they are just under strict medical control to take. Still offer the Benzodiazepines the best effect, which is why their use is indispensable in some cases despite the potential for dependency.

However, there are other psychiatric drugs that can be anxiety-relieving. Which includes Non-benzodiazepine tranquilizers, some Antidepressants as well as some Neuroleptics. In some cases you can also Beta blockers are administered, whereby these are not psychotropic drugs but "normal" drugs that are also used in patients with heart disease.

Psychotropic drugs for psychosis

There are a few different ones Psychotropic drugsthat at Psychosis can be used. This group of drugs is also known as Neuroleptics. These neuroleptics or antipsychotics are psychotropic drugs that are intended to ensure that the patient does not forget what reality is and that he does not lose sight of this reality. In addition to this effect, neuroleptics also have a depressant (sedating) Effect which leads to the fact that the patient becomes calmer and can thus better differentiate between what is reality and what is fiction. Through these modes of action, these psychotropic drugs can be used, for example To stop hallucinations or around Avoid delusions. That is why neuroleptics are particularly frequently used psychotropic drugs in patients with a schizophrenia or one mania.

Because of the sometimes strong soothing (sedating) However, neuroleptics are used more and more widely. In the meantime, these psychotropic drugs are also prescribed to demented patients, to patients with the Tourette syndrome, to depressed patients, to children with ADHD, on autistic patients and patients with a Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Nowadays the atypical neuroleptics are mostly used because they have fewer side effects than the typical or classic neuroleptics, which can ensure that the patient develops side effects that are similar to one Parkinson's symptoms are.

In general, these psychotropic drugs are drugs that are under strict medical supervision and closer inspection should be given as the side effects can sometimes be very high. However, the psychotropic drugs can help the patient to lead a normal life without hallucinations and delusions. A precise risk-benefit assessment is therefore always crucial.

Psychotropic drugs for sleep disorders

There are a few different ones Psychotropic drugsthat at sleep disorders can be used. These psychotropic drugs are prescribed to patients who either very big trouble falling asleep or patients who wake up again and again at night and cannot sleep through the night. These psychotropic drugs are known as Sleeping pills (Hypnotic). In addition to everyday use, these psychotropic drugs are sometimes also used to make the patient sleep during the operation. In this case one speaks of Narcotics since they are very strong Sleeping pills acts.

The most used Psychotropic drugs are the Benzodiazepines, whereby there is sometimes a great potential for dependency. Additionally there are the so-called non-benzodiazepine agonists as well as the Barbituric Acid Derivatives. In addition to these psychotropic drugs, there are also a few herbal sleeping pills as well as anti-allergic drugs like Antihistamines. In general, a patient should always try with first herbal sleeping pills or to get a grip on your sleep behavior with the help of a sleep analysis in the sleep laboratory, otherwise it will lead to a Getting used to sleeping pills can occur, which in turn leads to the patient's sleep behavior deteriorating again.

Psychotropic drugs for dementia

To this day, the dementia to be a poorly researched disease for which it is still no cure gives. However, there are several Psychotropic drugs, which can slow down the course of dementia and thus help to give the patient a few years of life. A psychotropic drug that is used for dementia is called Anti-dementia. A distinction is made between the so-called Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors as well as the NMDA antagonists. Both drugs ensure that increased levels of the neuro-transmitter Acetylcholine in the active zone (synaptic cleft) of the nerve cells remains. This means it remains increased over a longer period of time Acetylcholine, which normally decreases more and more in demented patients. Through this process, the Nerve cells excited more often and the patient remembers more things longer than without the medication. Still, these psychotropic drugs can Do not influence the course of the disease and they cannot cure a patient's dementia.

Psychotropic drugs as mood stabilizers

In some patients, it can be helpful to have a mood stabilizer (Phase prophylactic) to avoid recurring mental illness. With these Psychotropic drugs it is a drug that is mainly used in patients with recurrent (recurrent) depression or in patients with a bipolar disorder can be used. Of the Mood stabilizer helps the patient to consolidate a basic mood and not keep going back in severe depression or strong manic phases to expire. The psychotropic drugs are Lithium salts, Carbamazepine, Valproic acid and Lamotrigine.

Psychotropic drugs for stimulation

There are different Psychotropic drugs which are used to get the patient going again, i.e. to stimulate him. Colloquially, these psychotropic drugs are also called Upper referred to as they ensure that the patient comes back in a good mood and active (up) and not in a bad mood and tired (down) is. These types of psychiatric drugs are often called Drugs used for example at work awake longer to stay or the Party through the night without any problems to be able to. Which includes Amphetamine derivatives, cathinones, entactogens such as Xanthines and PiperazineDerivatives. Because these psychotropic drugs are partially a very high potential for dependency should only be taken under strict medical supervision.

Psychotropic drugs for alcohol withdrawal

Does a patient suffer from one Addiction disease, again Alcohol addiction, it is often difficult to get the patient off the drug again. To support the withdrawal there is the psychotropic drug Clomethiazole. However, this psychotropic drug is only used when a patient goes through inpatient withdrawal in a hospital and alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms are to be avoided. If, on the other hand, alcohol withdrawal takes place in a rehab clinic or on an outpatient basis at home, the patient does not have to take any psychotropic drugs.

Psychiatric drugs in Parkinson's patients

Patients with Parkinson's disease need Psychotropic drugs to minimize the symptoms of the disease and lead a normal life. However, it is important to know that while the symptoms of the disease can be treated, the disease cannot be cured. However, there are various psychiatric drugs available to relieve symptoms, such as this L-DOPA, Dopamine agonists, COMT inhibitors or MAO-B inhibitors. All of these psychotropic drugs are supposed to lead to the fact that the patient is more and above all more consistent Dopamine in his blood and especially in his brain cells. Because Parkinson's is too low and above all very fluctuating dopamine levels comes and this leads to the typical symptoms, the psychotropic drugs, due to their stabilizing effect on the dopamine, can lead to the patient having fewer symptoms such as tremors or the like.

Frequency distribution

Overall, it is believed that every third German has already gone through a mental illness phase in his life in which the use of Psychotropic drugs could have made sense. The study refers to the fact that every third person in Germany already has one Addiction problem, one depression or one psychosis and thus could have been supported by psychotropic drugs. However, not all of these patients take psychotropic drugs and some patients manage to conquer their mental disorder without psychotropic drugs.

Stop taking psychiatric drugs

Many patients want theirs after a while Psychotropic drugs discontinue. However, this is not always so easy to do. In general, if patients want to discontinue their psychotropic drugs, they should always contact their doctor (psychiatrist) Consultation. He or she can then tell the patient whether he thinks it makes sense to stop taking the psychotropic drugs or whether he believes that stopping it can quickly lead to a relapse. For example, a former depressed patient may think they can stop taking psychiatric drugs because they are feeling much better now. However, if he then stops taking the medication, it can make the patient sad again and thus become sad again Relapse experienced in depression. To avoid this, it is important not to stop taking psychotropic drugs suddenly, but rather to stop them slowly taper off. This means that the dose of psychotropic drugs is continuously reduced over a long period of time. If the patient then notices that he has increasingly sad thoughts again at a certain dose and that everyday life becomes more and more difficult to cope with, it is important to inform the psychiatrist so that the dose can then be increased again slightly and the patient can take the psychotropic drug later must drop.

If a patient wants to stop taking psychotropic drugs, it is extremely important that he is on his own Body and mood and determine himself whether he can reduce the dose further or whether it makes sense to take a smaller dose for a little longer and only further reduce the psychotropic drugs later.

Side effects of psychiatric drugs

In addition to the actual effect, the Psychotropic drugs also side effects, which can be very strong. Depending on which psychotropic drug is taken, the side effects are also different. Often times, psychotropic drugs have side effects such as Weight gain, decreased drive or sometimes a certain amount Numbness. In addition to the typical side effects of psychotropic drugs, there are also those like that Benzodiazepineswhich are also addictive and lead to the patient after some time more and more of the substance needed. In order to understand the most important side effects of the psychotropic drugs in detail, the psychotropic drugs must be considered individually.

Both Neuroleptics can cause side effects like Stiffness when walking or the facial muscles. Thus, these psychotropic drugs have side effects that mainly affect the Muscles refer, however, there are also side effects such as nausea or Weight gain.

At Antidepressants it depends on the preparation nausea, Weight gain, Cardiac arrhythmias, Constipation or to Loss of sexual pleasure (Loss of libido). At Tranquilizers can it to fatigue, dizziness and confusion come, which is why these psychotropic drug side effects should be avoided especially in older patients. The side effects of psychotropic drugs of the phase prophylactic class, such as, for example, are particularly dangerous lithium. Blood must be taken from the patient at regular intervals, as it is Overdose to poisoning can come.

Psychiatric drugs and alcohol

Psychiatric drugs and alcohol should if possible not combined with each other become. Some patients report that they can tolerate a glass of wine or a bottle of beer every now and then if they have been taking psychotropic drugs for years, but it is important not to drink too much alcohol. In general, that Psychotropic drugs and alcohol not tolerated.

This has different causes. For one thing, both psychotropic drugs and alcohol are in the Metabolized liver and dismantled. If it happens that a patient combines psychotropic drugs and alcohol, the process of degradation of the alcohol is inhibited and much of the poisonous arises (toxic) Intermediate acetaldehyde. This then causes the patient to quickly get one red head gets that to him evil will and that he is general feels very bad. In addition, it can happen that the alcohol reduces the effect of the psychotropic drug and, in return, the side effects become more prominent. At the same time it can happen that both alcohol and psychotropic drugs Blood brain barrier exceed which both substances can then act on the brain. This can then lead to the patient becoming dim or the actual Effect of psychotropic drugs no longer guaranteed can be.

All in all, the combination of psychotropic drugs and alcohol should be avoided, as both together can sometimes have serious effects on the liver, which up to Liver failure can lead. Furthermore, the effects on the brain cannot be foreseen and it is very difficult to predict whether the effect of psychotropic drugs is still guaranteed with alcohol consumption.

Psychotropic drugs in pregnancy

Psychiatric druga in the pregnancy should, if possible, Be avoided. The reason for this is that most psychotropic drugs have not been tested on pregnant patients and it is therefore unclear what effects the use of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy can have on the unborn child. However, there may be situations in which it makes sense for pregnant patients to receive psychotropic drugs during pregnancy. This is the case, for example, when a patient is under great anxiety or under one severe depression suffers. If they endanger the unborn child through this fear or through the depression, there are certain psychotropic drugs that can be used during pregnancy.

However, it is very important here that a planned pregnancy is always discussed with the psychiatrist first. It is best for the child and the mother-to-be if the psychotropic drugs are not taken during pregnancy and if the patient slowly lets the psychotropic drugs taper off before pregnancy. This means that the patient is getting the dose of her psychotropic drugs further reduced until at the end she no longer takes any psychotropic drugs so that there can be no risk to the unborn child from psychotropic drugs during pregnancy. It is particularly important that the patient can handle the reduced dose of psychotropic drugs and does not become extremely depressed or anxious again. It is also important that psychotropic drugs are taken that, in case of doubt, the Do not cross the placenta and therefore not endanger the unborn child.

Overview list of psychotropic drugs

A list of the Psychotropic drugs should be very extensive since it is now extremely many different psychotropic drugs in the market there. Nevertheless, with the help of a rough overview of the psychotropic drugs, you can create a list that can be helpful to orient yourself in the jungle of different drugs. In this list of psychiatric drugs are those Antidepressants at the top because they are the most frequently prescribed drug among psychiatric drugs. Next in the list of psychotropic drugs is the group of Neuroleptics, which are also very often prescribed. The list of psychotropic drugs should also not be missing Tranquilizers, hypnotics as well as the Antidementia drugs. The last two groups of psychotropic drugs are those Phase prophylactic drugs as well as the means against the disease Parkinson's.

Are psychotropic drugs available without a prescription?

At Psychotropic drugs it is about extremely potent meansthat have not only strong effects but also strong side effects. There are also some psychotropic drugs that are used for Dependency can lead, such as the Benzodiazepines. This is why hardly any psychotropic drugs without a prescription can be purchased. However, there are some medications such as the natural one Johannis herbswhich against mild depression helps and can sometimes be purchased in pharmacies without a prescription. However, St. John's wort is not a prescription-free psychotropic drug but a so-called phyto-drug, i.e. herbal medications.

The drug too ARDEYDORM® is similar to psychotropic drugs in that it can also be used against depression. This can be bought in pharmacies as “psychotropic drugs” without a prescription. Some memory-enhancing psychotropic drugs can also be purchased in pharmacies without a prescription. These include, among others Tebonin®, which is the most memorable Ginkgo special extract EGb 761 contains. However, its positive effect is being discussed critically and is not clearly proven.

In general, however, it is true that psychotropic drugs are rarely available without a prescription because the side effects are too high and so are the patients have your liver values ​​and heart rate checked regularly by a doctor to make sure that the psychiatric drugs do not make the patient sicker than he was before.

Further information

More information on psychotropic drugs

• antidepressant
• Parkinson's disease
• ADHD
• Antidepressants and alcohol

You can also find all information about other drugs at Medicines A-Z.

Exclusion of liability / disclaimer

We would like to point out that medication must never be discontinued, applied or changed independently without consulting your doctor.
Please note that we cannot claim that our texts are complete or correct. The information may be out of date due to current developments.