A new study has found that antipsychotic drugs are not an effective form of treatment to help stop aggressive behavior in patients who are mentally disabled.
Patients born with moderate to severe mental disabilities will get no help if they take these antipsychotic drugs according to the study.
The study was published in the Lancet today and looks at the effects of two antipsychotic drugs, haloperidol, as well as Risperdal.
This is the first study of its kind to look at patients with severe mental disability in this regard. Over 200,000 people in the U.K. alone suffer from aggressive behavior due to their mental disability.
When the patients took the drugs they showed no improvement compared to when they took a placebo in regards to their aggressive behavior.
The author of the article wrote “The routine prescription of antipsychotic drugs early in the management of aggressive challenging behavior, even in low doses, should no longer be regarded as a satisfactory form of care.”