Atypical Antipsychotics

• The aim of developing newer antipsychotics was to maintain or improve upon the effectiveness of drugs in suppressing the symptoms of psychosis and also to minimise the side effects of the drugs used.
• Clozapine binds to dopamine receptors as chlorpromazine does but also acts on serotonin and glutamate receptors.

  This drug was more effective than typical antipsychotics

  • clozapine reduces depression and anxiety as well as improving cognitive functioning.

  It also improves mood, which is important as up to 50% of people with schizophrenia attempt suicide.
• Risperidone was developed in the 1990s because clozapine was involved in the deaths of some people from a blood condition called agranulocytosis. Risperidone like clozapine binds to dopamine and serotonin receptors. But risperidone binds more strongly to dopamine receptors and is therefore more effective in smaller doses than most antipsychotics and has fewer side effects.