... but can also produce some of the symptoms of neurological diseases. They decrease the positive symptoms of schizophrenia but have little effect on the negative symptoms. Anti-psychotic drugs are thought to work by either preventing the release of dopamine in pre-synaptic neurons or by binding with receptor sites on post-synaptic neurons. As how the drugs work cannot be fully explained there are doubts as to whether it is right for them to be used to treat patients. However anti-psychotic drugs greatly reduced the institutionalisation, enabling many schizophrenics to be cared for in the community. Though, around 25% of schizophrenics do not improve on traditional neuroleptics. Another frequently used drug is clozapine, which is a neuroleptic drug that seems to have fewer side-effects than some others. Though, as Kendall and Hammen have highlighted it has two major limitations. Firstly, it is far more expensive compared to other drugs for schizophrenia ...

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