antipsychotics are not always necessary in young diagnosed early

The ESSENTIAL

• The addition of antipsychotic medication to a psychosocial intervention intensive does not improve the condition of patients diagnosed early
• Antipsychotics lead to heavy side effects, including weight gain and sexual problems
• The researchers believe that antipsychotic drugs are not necessary in all young patients

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How to treat psychotic disorders in children and adolescents ? Psychosis is a generic term in psychiatry, which includes several mental disorders involving a loss of contact with reality. Researchers from the Orygen Youth Health, an organization in australia that specializes in the mental health of young people aged 15 to 25 years, conducted a study on the different stages of treatment of the psychoses of early.

Antipsychotics are not automatic

According to them, during an early diagnosis, the prescription of antipsychotic medication is not always useful during the first 6 months if the patient has a psychosocial intervention, or a support of emotional caring. In arriving at this finding, the researchers gave two groups of patients aged 15 to 25 years, including psychotic disorders were to be detected. Both groups received psychosocial intervention intensive, but one has also taken a medication. The other group received only a placebo.

Result : the addition of antipsychotic medication to a psychosocial intervention intensive has not helped to improve the symptoms during the first six months, suggesting that the drug treatments are not necessarily useful at the beginning of the disease in all young patients.

Of heavy side effects

Some young people will need, “but, I think others can recover from their psychosis, at least initially, without medication”, writes dr. Shona Francey, who led the study. The prescription of antipsychotic drugs is now automatic as soon as the onset of symptoms, or “they can have heavy side effects such as weight gain, which worries a lot already young. As well as a variety of side effects on sexuality.”

According to her, young people who are reluctant to take an antipsychotic treatment may initially benefit from a psychosocial intervention intensive and see where the therapy leads. They of course will associate with antipsychotic drug treatment if symptoms persist.

Mental disorders in young people

According to the world health Organization (WHO), one in six suffering from mental disorders is a young 10-to 19-year-old : “Mental health problems represent 16% of the global burden of disease and injury among people between the ages of 10 to 19 years” and about half of these mental disorders manifest themselves before the age of 14 years, but most cases are neither detected nor treated.

“Disorders that include symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations or delusions, appear most often in late adolescence or early adulthood”. These mental health problems can compromise “the ability of a teenager to participate in the daily life and education, and are often the source of stigma or human rights violations.”

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