How do you treat treatment-resistant schizophrenia?

How do you treat treatment-resistant schizophrenia?

Treatment strategies for patients who remain incompletely responsive to antipsychotic medications include changes to antipsychotic doses and drugs, use of clozapine (in eligible patients), and drug augmentation.

What is the best medication for treatment refractory schizophrenia?

Clozapine has long been the mainstay of treatment for patients with refractory schizophrenia. Considered to be the most effective antipsychotic in this subset of patients, its use is limited primarily by significant adverse effects.

What are other possible explanations for treatment resistance in schizophrenia?

TRS results from lack of response to adequate exposure to medication with no confounding factors (Table 1), whereas pseudo-resistance may occur as a result of medication nonadherence, insufficient plasma levels of a medication, inadequate dosage or duration of treatment, misdiagnosis, adverse events of a treatment …

Why is clozapine used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia?

Clozapine is also indicated in patients with schizophrenia who show severe, untreatable adverse neurological reactions to other antipsychotics, including second-generation antipsychotics. Treatment with clozapine decreases overall mortality in schizophrenia, in part by reducing suicidality.

Does electroshock therapy work for schizophrenia?

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a remarkably effective treatment for major depressive disorder, but is less commonly utilized for treatment of psychotic disorders. Recent literature indicates that ECT can be a useful strategy for a wide range of psychotic disorders, including treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

What is treatment-resistant psychosis?

What is treatment resistant psychosis? Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders who have not responded well to trials of at least two other antipsychotic medications, are considered to have ‘treatment resistant’ psychosis.

Which of the following antipsychotics is best for treating severe treatment-resistant schizophrenia?

Up to 30% of people with schizophrenia do not respond to two (or more) trials of dopaminergic antipsychotics. They are said to have treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Clozapine is still the only effective treatment for TRS, although it is underused in clinical practice.

What is it called when a patient does not respond to any medication for his disorder?

Specialty. Psychiatry. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a term used in clinical psychiatry to describe a condition that affects people with major depressive disorder (MDD) who do not respond adequately to a course of appropriate antidepressant medication within a certain time.

Is clozapine more effective than olanzapine?

Clozapine was significantly superior to olanzapine (hazard ratio=0.24, p<0.02), quetiapine (hazard ratio=0.16, p=0.004), and risperidone (hazard ratio=0.16, p=0.003).

What is insulin therapy for schizophrenia?

Insulin shock therapy or insulin coma therapy was a form of psychiatric treatment in which patients were repeatedly injected with large doses of insulin in order to produce daily comas over several weeks.

How common is treatment-resistant schizophrenia?

Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) affects ~30% of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. TRS is defined as nonresponse to at least two trials of antipsychotic medication of adequate dose and duration,2 at which point, the antipsychotic clozapine is indicated.