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Psychotropic Drugs—Friend or Foe?
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Comments (3)According to the National Institute on Aging, an estimated 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, and approximately 10 percent of adults 65 years and older are diagnosed with the disease. In turn, Alzheimer’s is the most well known cause of dementia, a progressive brain dysfunction, which ultimately results in the restriction of most daily activities. There is currently no cure.
Best estimates indicate that up to 80 percent of nursing home residents have one of these mental disorders, and/or depression, anxiety, or psychosis. Enter psychotropic drugs, the controversial medications often administered to nursing home residents to affect temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. Proponents argue that the use of psychotropics can help control behaviors such as wandering, pacing and agitation while detractors say these drugs often contribute to decreased mental functioning, sleep disturbances and physical injuries due to decreased perception. Gilbert Guide wants to hear you weigh in. Do you think psychotropic drug use benefits or endangers seniors in long-term care facilities?
Posted in: Alzheimers & Dementia Care, Senior Care News
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Psychotropics are actually prescribed by a doctor and are approved medications. They can help relieve some of the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Even assuming that psychotropics can be helpful in ensuring the psychological well-being of patients, they are easily subject to abuse. They shouldn’t be simply seen as a cure-all.
IN October of 2003 my mother fell and cracked(broke) her hip, unfortunately the xrays didn’t shgow the break so she was sent home and suffered pain for a month before she was taken once again for xrays which this time showed that her hip was cracked….. they operated but the pain still persisted and she was on seversl different pain killers, then put on anatripiline (not sure of the spelling). Up to this time mom was fullu alert mentally but in early 2004 my mother was dianoised with Lewie’s Body dementia by a mental health nurse who had only seen mom a few times. Mom was put in the hospital and treated with many drugs for alzheimers/Lewie’s Body. These drugs made mom much worse and her movements became very stiff. Funny thing was that when my sisters or I she was quite but not demented. Mom died in the hospital in May of 2004 and a sample of brain tissue was taken and the results showed that she had no alzheimers or Lewie’s Body dementia. I believe that my mother had a nervous breakdown and that the anatriptalin caused her confusion at first and then when she was hospitalized they started treatment fot alzheimers which she didn’t have. Unfortunately the doctors didn’t do a urine sample or other tests to find out if there was anything else wrong with her untill after they give her the alzheimer’s medications (1 medication she was on was taken off the market but the doctor still used it on her.
I do not beleive that any person should be given these medications before all other testing is done as not all confusion is caused from alzheimers/Lewie’s body. When I read about the side effects these medications can have they tell you that these meds can cause alzheimers like systems. I believe that my mother died way before she should have (massive heart attack, the last months of her life were very mentally painful to her, she told me that she would rather die than live like this. She lost everything…her home, her much loved dogs,herself.