1. Title: Antipsychotic Drugs

2. Purpose: To help patients focus on their steps towards wellness
Objectives: Patient will establish and set daily goals
Patient will be able to identity and implement actions they can take
towards achieving their goals.
Time Frame: 15-20 minutes
Specific Discipline: Interdisciplinary Team
Role of the Leader: Facilitate group discussion
Provide a comfortable environment
Teaching Tools: Visual aids
Question and answer discussion
Teaching Structure: Patient will discuss and share feelings and goals to the group.
Evaluation Method: At the end of the day, the patient’s degree of goal attainment
will be evaluated

3. Definition: Antipsychotic drugs are a class of medicines used to treat psychosis
and other mental and emotional conditions.
Purpose
Psychosis is defined as "a serious mental condition” characterized by a lost contact
with reality often with hallucinations or delusions. Anti-psychotic drugs control the
symptoms of psychosis, and in many cases are effective in controlling the
symptoms of other disorders that may lead to psychosis.
Typical Drugs are the oldest group, and include chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and
Haloperidol (Haldol). They only treat positive signs which are hallucinations,
delusions, disorganized speech and bizarre behavior. Both drugs are used to treat
the symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (conditions that
cause difficulty telling the difference between things or ideas that are real and
things or ideas that are not real)
Side Effects: Extrapyramidal side effects such as restlessness (akathisia); absence
or difficulty of movement (akinesia); Muscle spams (dystonias); involuntary
movement and abnormal movement of the mouth, tongue and face (tardive
dyskinesia); and fever and tremors (NMS)
Atypical: are known as the second generation antipsychotics and they treat both
positive and negative symptoms (such as loss of motivation, inability to experience
pleasure or joy, impaired grooming and hygiene) and have fewer motor side
effects. Atypical drugs include: Clozapine (Clozaril), Risperidone (Risperdal),
Quetiapine (Seroquel), and Aripiprazole (Abilify).
Side Effects: dizziness upon standing (orthostatic hypotension); weight gain;
sexual dysfunction; and dysrhythmias.

4. Anti-parkinsonism/anticholinergic: used to treat the negative symptoms of
schizophrenia and used to prevent and treat the side effects of typical medications.
These drugs include: Benztropine (Cogentin) and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl).
Side Effects: Dry mouth; constipation; nasal congestion; blurred vision; eye pain
and sensitivity to light.
Summary:
A lot of people stop taking their meds for different reasons. Some being:
1. You don't like the way the meds make your feel
2. You think the medications are working and you no longer need them, because
you haven’t experience an episode of illness in a long time
3. Substituting medications for drugs and alcohol
How you feel is important and you should tell a member of the staff here, because
there are ways to deal with some of the troubling effects of these drugs.
Here are some ways you can treat your symptoms:
1. Dry mouth - you can drink water or chew gum
2. Problems using the bath room- try placing a warm towel on your stomach,
running water, or you can be given stool softener
3. Sensitive to light - wear long sleeves, hats, and sunglasses and you can limit
your time in sun
4. Sexual dysfunction- alert doctor because your medication may need to be
change
5. Orthostatic hypotension (dizziness upon standing) - alert nurse or a member of
staff so this may be address
6. Fever- can be treated with medications, but need to be brought to the attention of
the staff immediately (fever is a serious side effect that only happens when
something is really bad)
The side effects are important and should be brought to the attention of your health
care provider, but you have to tell someone in order to receive help.
Questions:
1. What are some of the side effects of Typical medications?
a. Sleepiness
b. Restlessness

5. c. Pacing
2. Which medication causes sensitivity to light?
a. Cogentin
b. Tylenol
3. What is Psychosis?
a. A condition characterized by a lost contact with reality often with
hallucinations or delusions
b. A type of food
c. A type of medication
4. What are some symptoms of Psychosis?
a. Hallucinations and delusions
b. Having to use bathroom
c. Makes you hungry
5. How can you treat dry mouth?
a. Drink water
b. Going to sleep
c. Eating food
6. What should you do if you don’t feel well because of medications?
a. Tell your nurse
b. Stop taking medications
c. Ignore the problem