Antipsychotic

Antipsychotics, also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers, are a class of medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Antipsychotics are usually effective in relieving symptoms of psychosis in the short term. The long-term use of antipsychotics is associated with adverse effects such as involuntary movement disorders, gynecomastia, impotence, weight gain and metabolic syndrome. First-generation antipsychotics, known as typical antipsychotics, were discovered in the 1950s. Most second-generation drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics, have been developed more recently, although the first atypical antipsychotic, clozapine, was discovered in the 1960s and introduced clinically in the 1970s. Both generations of medication tend to block receptors in the brain's dopamine pathways, but atypicals tend to act on serotonin receptors as well. Neuroleptic, originating from Greek: νεῦρον (neuron) and λαμβάνω (take hold of) – thus meaning 'which takes the nerve' – refers to both common neurological effects and side effects.