Mental Health Medications And Treatment

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH 1
Mental Health
Name of Student
Name of Professor
Institution Affiliation
Date

MENTAL HEALTH 2
Introduction
There are several medications and treatment options for psychiatric health conditions.
This includes anti-anxiety drugs, anti-psychotics, and mood stabilizers. Anti-psychotic drugs
help in regulating the working of the brain circuits. However, these drugs have some adverse
effects, which will be discussed in the paper. Sedatives reduce the behaviours and moods
caused by mania. They are prescription medications used in mental hospitals to slow down
activities in the brain and help the patient in relaxation. Sedatives are highly addictive drugs,
and for this reason, their production and distribution are highly controlled. Patients and drug
users commonly abuse medications like benzodiazepines and barbiturates due to their
addictive nature. In the mental hospital, sedatives are used to treat anxiety and mood
stabilizers. In the world today, involuntary sedation is common in almost all psychiatric
hospitals. However, the knowledge about how drugs work is still not clear to medical experts
around the globe. This paper focuses on the adverse effects that are brought by sedation and
why it remains a big controversy in the medical field.
Effects of psychotropic medications
A study carried out in the United States shows that at least 27% of psychiatric patients
are intravenously sedated (Cockburn et al. 2017). Patients who turned violent were more
likely to be sedated involuntarily. Psychiatric patients who are admitted via accident and
emergency hospitals are more likely to be treated using sedatives than those assumed in
proper mental hospitals (Westaway et al. 2016). It is used as a safe procedure in non-
psychiatric hospitals to reduce the risk of violence against other patients and hospital
workers.
Besides their enormous success in reducing anxiety, sedatives come along with some
severe side effects. Benzodiazepines are the most commonly used sedative. This medication

MENTAL HEALTH 3
works by increasing the secretion of a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid
(GAMA), which reduces brain activities. When benzodiazepines are administered, the patient
goes through lorazepam. When the drug is taken in large amounts, the patient experiences
some respiratory depression (DiNapoli et al. 2016). The biggest downside of these
medications is that their effects are short-lived. If they are taken for a long time, they stop
working appropriately and, in turn, becomes an addiction, the patient can no longer function
without them. For this reason, specialists advise that benzodiazepines be taken as an off dose
medication and not to be used for more than two months. In some cases, benzos are known to
cause some severe short term side effects like coma, erratic behaviour, memory loss, and
weak pulse.
Anti-psychotic drugs that have fatal side effects remain in use around the world due to
their effectiveness in treating mental disorders. For instance, Clozaril; Clozaril is an anti-
psychotic drug used in the treatment of a disease called bipolar. The drug is highly effective
in its treatment but brings with it some fatal side effects. Several patients who use Clozaril
end up with a disorder that requires their blood to be tested often to ensure their safety. It is
also linked to glaucoma, hypertension, and stroke due to cholesterol build-up.
In addition to benzos, there are several other non-benzodiazepines drugs that are
approved by the Australian government. These drugs are known as z-drugs. These sedatives
act on a more specific receptor; thus, they are preferred as they do not cause disturbance to
receptors that do not have a disorder (Bramoweth et al. 2019). However, this sedative also
has some adverse effects, e.g., hallucinations and psychotics. These medications can also lead
to physical dependence and withdrawal syndromes.
According to studies, up to 33% of patients who are subjected to antipsychotics result
in abusing them due to addiction (Maron et al. 2019). Dependence on the sedatives causes
withdrawal effects that, if not treated, can lead to death! Besides, they come with many short-