ArticleCurrent drug safety2019
Positive and Negative Effects of Antipsychotic Medication: An International Online Survey of 832 Recipients.
Article in Current drug safety, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effects of positive psychology theory in the rehabilitation nursing of Chinese patients with schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Risk Factors for Psychotic Relapse After Dose Reduction or Discontinuation of Antipsychotics in Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia. A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2023Pooled it
- Adverse effects of antipsychotics on sleep in patients with schizophrenia. Systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of risperidone/paliperidone versus placebo on cognitive functioning over the first 6 months of treatment for psychotic disorder: secondary analysis of a triple-blind randomised clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- The Psychometric Properties and Clinical Usefulness of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale in Forensic Settings.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Real-World Analysis of Olanzapine and Functional Outcomes in Outpatient Cancer Rehabilitation.Cancers · 2026Article
- An international survey of the relatives and friends of electroconvulsive therapy recipients.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2026Article
- Predicting functional remission after antipsychotic discontinuation: a real-world study in schizophrenia.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- The Effect of Semaglutide on Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain and Other Metabolic Parameters, among a Cohort of Inpatients.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Article
- A large exploratory survey of electroconvulsive therapy recipients, family members and friends: what information do they recall being given?Journal of medical ethics · 2026Article
- "I want to live life, not just be in it!": a qualitative study on existential aspects of choosing to reduce or stop psychotropic medication.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Helping people to discontinue antipsychotics: if, when and how.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- A Survey of ECT Recipients, Family Members and Friends: Are the Self-Reported Reasons for The Recipients' Problems Being Addressed?International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Version of the Pictorial Empathy Test for Assessing Affective Empathic Reactions in Patients with Schizophrenia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- 'I Wish It Were More Often Told to People Before They Are Prescribed These Medications How Hard It Is to Get Off Them': A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis of Free-Text Responses to a Survey on Reducing and Stopping Psychiatric Medication.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- A Survey of 1144 ECT Recipients, Family Members and Friends: Does ECT Work?International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Complex medical conditions and health risk behaviors among homeless males with schizophrenia.Narra J · 2025Article
- Intentional Non-Adherence in Schizophrenia: The Influence of Antipsychotics' Sedative Side-Effects A First-Person Account.Schizophrenia bulletin open · 2025Article
- Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of medication adherence among psychiatric outpatients in Mozambique: A two-year longitudinal survival analysis.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- An Exploratory Study of Inflammatory Biomarkers and Extrapyramidal Side Effects in Patients with Schizophrenia.Schizophrenia bulletin open · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntipsychotic medication is currently the treatment of choice for psychosis, but few studies directly survey the first-hand experience of recipients.
objectiveTo ascertain the experiences and opinions of an international sample of users of antipsychotic drugs, regarding positive and negative effects.
methodsAn online direct-to-consumer questionnaire was completed by 832 users of antipsychotics, from 30 countries - predominantly USA, UK and Australia. This is the largest such sample to date.
resultsOver half (56%) thought, the drugs reduced the problems they were prescribed for, but 27% thought they made them worse. Slightly less people found the drugs generally 'helpful' (41%) than found them 'unhelpful' (43%). While 35% reported that their 'quality of life' was 'improved', 54% reported that it was made 'worse'. The average number of adverse effects reported was 11, with an average of five at the 'severe' level. Fourteen effects were reported by 57% or more participants, most commonly: 'Drowsiness, feeling tired, sedation' (92%), 'Loss of motivation' (86%), 'Slowed thoughts' (86%), and 'Emotional numbing' (85%). Suicidality was reported to be a side effect by 58%. Older people reported particularly poor outcomes and high levels of adverse effects. Duration of treatment was unrelated to positive outcomes but significantly related to negative outcomes. Most respondents (70%) had tried to stop taking the drugs. The most common reasons people wanted to stop were the side effects (64%) and worries about long-term physical health (52%). Most (70%) did not recall being told anything at all about side effects.
conclusionClinical implications are discussed, with a particular focus on the principles of informed consent, and involving patients in decision making about their own lives.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.