ABSTRACT
Hundreds of double-blind studies of the efficacy of the antipsychotic (or neuroleptic) drugs have now been conducted. The large majority of these studies suggest that these drugs are significantly more effective than inactive placebos in improving the condition of people with acute and chronic schizophrenia.1 Time after time, in many thousands of treatment settings, clinical experience has shown that the antipsychotic drugs can bring dramatic relief from psychotic symptoms in most schizophrenic patients. Long-term use of these medications appears to help forestall relapse. Twice as many schizophrenic patients will relapse if placebos are substituted for their active medication than if they continue to take a neuroleptic drug.2
