Is there rebound psychosis on withdrawal of antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia?

It is well established that dopamine antagonist medications, antipsychotics, have an important role in the prevention of relapse in schizophrenia and other psychoses (Buchanan et al., 2010; Hasan et al., 2013). Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials indicates continuation of medication is associated with fewer relapses over the next year than discontinuation (Leucht et al., 2012). However, there remains vigorous ongoing debate around longer-term risks and benefits (Correll et al., 2018), and whether adaptive changes such as dopamine supersensitivity may lead to rebound psychosis on medication withdrawal, which could inflate the apparent benefits of continuing medication (Murray et al., 2016).

Source: Schizophrenia Research - June 8, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Matthew J. Taylor, Seb Yim Tags: Letter to the editor Source Type: research