The subjective experience of taking antipsychotic medication: a content analysis of Internet data

• Published in: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 120; no. 2; pp. 102 - 111
• Main Authors: Moncrieff, J., Cohen, D., Mason, J. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2009; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Affect - drug effects; Akathisia, Drug-Induced; antipsychotic agents; Antipsychotic Agents - adverse effects; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Anxiety Disorders - drug therapy; Attitude to Health; Benzodiazepines - adverse effects; Benzodiazepines - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Bipolar Disorder - drug therapy; Bulletin boards; Cognition Disorders - chemically induced; Content analysis; Drug therapy; Female; Health Behavior; Humans; Internet; Male; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; Neuropharmacology; Parkinsonian Disorders - chemically induced; patient-centred research; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psycholeptics: tranquillizer, neuroleptic; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Psychotic Disorders - drug therapy; Psychotropic drugs; Risperidone - adverse effects; Risperidone - therapeutic use; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological - chemically induced; side effects; subjective effects of drugs; Patient-centered approach; Data analysis; Neuroleptic; Psychotropic; Toxicity; Subjective experience; Pharmacotherapy; Psychological effect; antipsychotic agents; Treatment; Psychopharmacology; subjective effects of drugs; Antipsychotic; side effects; Qualitative analysis; Internet; patient-centred research; Content analysis
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 0065-1591
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01356.x

Objective:  We explored the subjective effects associated with olanzapine, risperidone and older antipsychotics.
Method:  We conducted a content analysis of an Internet database of comments about prescribed medications.
Results:  We analysed 223 comments on risperidone, 170 on olanzapine and 46 relating to three older antipsychotics. The predominant subjective effects produced by all drugs consisted of sedation, cognitive impairment and emotional flattening or indifference. Connections appeared between these effects and Parkinsonian‐like symptoms with the older drugs, sexual impairment with risperidone and metabolic effects with olanzapine. The experience of akathisia was frequently linked to suicidal thoughts. Some respondents described how the drugs’ subjective effects helped to reduce symptoms of mania, psychosis and anxiety.
Conclusion:  The generalisability of Internet data is uncertain. However, the data suggest that adverse subjective effects play a central role in the experience of taking antipsychotic drugs and may be related to the drugs’ desired benefits.