Antipsychotics are those psychiatric drugs primarily used for the treatment of
psychosis, mainly schizophrenia. Since their introduction, they have been used in a host
of indications, but apart from mood disorders and somatoform disorders or insomnia in
some European countries, most non-psychosis uses are off-label. Antipsychotics are
associated to serious adverse effects, which call for a careful use, especially in the
elderly, a population characterized by pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes,
and frailty. Clozapine, the gold standard antipsychotic, is probably the most difficult to
use, but with a judicious use it can be safe and effective in the elderly.
Keywords: Agranulocytosis, Amisulpride, Aripiprazole, Clozapine, Early Onset
Schizophrenia, Extrapyramidal symptoms, First-generation antipsychotics,
Haloperidol, Long-acting injections, Metabolic syndrome, Mood stabilizer,
Myocardiopathy, Neuroleptic malignant syndrome, Olanzapine, Phenotiazines,
Psychotic symptoms, Quetiapine, Risperidone, Schizophrenia with Late Onset,
Schizophrenia, Second-generation antipsychotics, Sedation, Somatoform disorder,
Tardive dyskinesia, Violence.
