Posted by SLS on July 7, 2022, at 7:47:51
In reply to sedatives, not neuroleptics?, posted by Christ_empowered on July 2, 2022, at 11:40:14
> I thought about it and...
>
> do non-neuroleptic sedatives have any specific benefits in Schizophrenia and related disorders? I mean...they're still -just sedatives- , but...
>
> isn't that what a lot of the agitated among us really need, anyway?
>
> I remember some references to studies in the 60s-early 80s, but..low quality, the very definition of Schizophrenia was apparently a lot more broad back then...
>
> plus...if I recall, those were short term. The one I remember off the top of my head was just for the prodromal phase. Valium did about as well as Prolixin, but I forget if the people were on stable neuroleptics or...?? as-needed antipsychotic treatment was tried, here and there...70s, maybe? E. Fuller Torrey says its disastrous. some more recent studies seem to show a subset of people who just bust out the neuroleptics for a couple of weeks at a time, here and there...other than that, good to go.
>
> tolerance would be an issue. dosage escalation. and...doctor preference. I think librium, valium would probably be better...but it seems that ativan, xanax, and klonopin are the top benzodiazepines in the US. why? -shrug- szasz says psychiatry runs on dogma and trends.
>
> blah. what do y'all think?.
Sleep alone is critical to attack mental illnesses and prevent neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's Disease; Parkinson's Disease).
My thoughts on the choice of hypnotics are that they:
1. Not produce physiological dependence and a withdrawal syndrome. I find that the "Z" drugs fit this description.
2. Of great importance is that a hypnotic not distort sleep architecture in a manner that reduces delta (slow-wave) sleep that is generally seen in stage 4 sleep.
* In depression, the onset of REM sleep occurs at 1 hour rather than the 1 1/2 hours for healthy volunteers. Depression is also associated with more time spent in REM. When one night's total sleep deprivation is found to produce a brief period of improvement the next morning, the suppression of REM sleep is probably involved among the mechanisms of action of antidepressant. Abrupt discontinuation of MAOIs, and to a lesser degree, TCAs, often produce intense dreaming as a REM rebound effect. I also experienced a hypnagogic state such that I experienced dreaming while being mostly awake. This is a withdrawal effect that results from the build up of "REM pressure".
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
poster:SLS
thread:1119997
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220530/msgs/1120023.html