ABSTRACT
Medication is the first-line treatment for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Research and personal accounts show that medication helps many people to manage their symptoms and is decisive in their recovery. Drugs in tablet or liquid form are usually taken once or twice a day, while the effects of an injection are designed to last for between one and five weeks. These injections are called depots, and comprise antipsychotic medication suspended in, usually, a thin vegetable oil. Antipsychotic medication became available in the 1950s. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has stated that there is no firm evidence that high doses of antipsychotics are more effective than standard ones, and that this holds true for their use in “rapid tranquillisation, acute psychosis and chronic aggression management”. About ten per cent of people develop acute dystonia on typical drugs. Dystonia can be very painful and frightening.
