AO1

• Drug therapy involves treatment of mental disorders such as schizophrenia through the use of antipsychotic to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia
• Typical antipsychotics (such as Chlorpromazine) are used primarily to combat the positive symptoms, which are products of an overactive dopamine system
• Atypical antipsychotics (such as Clozapine) combat positive symptoms, but in addition there are claims that they have some beneficial impact on negative symptoms
• The basic mechanism of typical antipsychotics is to reduce the effects of dopamine
• Atypical antipsychotics are dopamine antagonist in that they bind to but don't stimulate dopamine receptors , thus blocking
• Typical antipsychotics are described as ‘first generation’ because these were the drugs historically prescribed to treat SZ patients. It is particularly favoured in psychiatric institutions due to its calming and sedative effects, due to acting upon histamine receptors in addition to dopamine receptors.
• Atypical antipsychotics work in the same way as typical antipsychotics, but also target other neurotransmitter receptors on postsynaptic membranes, in line with more modern research.
• Chlorpromazine increases the levels of dopamine before reducing them. The reduction of dopamine normalises neurotransmission in key areas of the brain and so the severity of the symptoms are reduced. Chlorpromazine also works on histamine receptors and so can have a sedative effect. This has led it to be used on anxious patients on their initial admission to hospital.
• Typical antipsychotics are dopamine antagonists
• Dopamine antagonists reduce dopamine activity by blocking dopamine receptors in the synapse. This results in a reduction in the activity of the dopamine system in the brain, reducing positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. They also have a general sedative effect. As these drugs affect all dopamine receptors in the brain equally