Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Psychosis

Substantial number of studies has been conducted to find alternatives or treatments for psychosis. Psychosis represents a variety of mental disorders characterized by the presence of delusions, hallucinations and grossly disorganized thinking in a clear sensorium. Psychosis is burdensome and difficult to treat given the inability of the typical and atypical antipsychotics to adequately manage it, accompanied by numerous disturbing adverse effects. Therefore, many with chronic mental health problems justifiably feel disappointed by the apparent ineffectiveness of conventional treatment and naturally search for a more holistic approach to treatment and alternative medicines having less or no side-effects. Plants are rich in secondary metabolites which have the ability to interact with the Central nervous system (CNS) to produce effects that can be beneficial for the management of psychosis, these phytochemicals are believed to have minimal adverse effects. A review of some of the medicinal plants used as antipsychotics, indicated that many medicinal plants possess antipsychotic effects that can improve the treatment of psychosis. Apparently, further studies are necessary in order to isolate the active constituents, ascertain their molecular mechanisms and safety, and also to test them in clinical studies for the development of new pharmacotherapies for psychosis.

Effectiveness Study of Typical and Atypical Antipsychotics on Patients with Schizophrenia using WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)

Background and Objectives: Schizophrenia is the commonest and one of the best known mental disorder which usually starts before 25 years of age, leading to significant disability in both behavioural and social life. Usually the person with any mental disability has to face social ignorance, this further leads to deterioration of their health and productivity. The deterioration of the health is not only due to the course of the disease but also may be due to treatment by some of the antipsychotics, which are the main drugs for the schizophrenia management. So, the present study has been designed to determine the effectiveness of typical and atypical antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia in terms of disability reduction caused by them using WHODAS 2.0. Methods: After taking ethics committee approval and informed consent from study participants this prospective, observational, questionnaire based study has been conducted in the Department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology of V. S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, Odisha using WHODAS 2.0 in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Results: Atypical antipsychotics lead to more reduction in disability in patients with schizophrenia than typical antipsychotics both at 6 and 12 month duration. On comparing the various atypical antipsychotics used in the study, there was no significant difference among them. Conclusion: Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that atypical antipsychotics are more effective than typical antipsychotics in terms of disability reduction. The findings may help clinicians to get better insight in the management of schizophrenia.