No access

Article

Published Online: January 1957

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VARIOUS ATARACTIC DRUGS

PAUL E. FELDMANAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 113, Number 7

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.113.7.589

Get Access

Abstract

1. Clinical evaluations have been made upon 1,450 trials with chlorpromazine, a combination of Thorazine and reserpine, Frenquel, Pacatal, and Serpasil.

2. The patient material utilized for this study consisted of a very chronic, inpatient population of a state hospital with a very high percentage of schizophrenic reactions.

3. All 5 compounds tested appear to be of benefit in some respect, but not to the same degree.

4. Thorazine appears to be the most generally effective, and Frenquel the least.

5. All drugs appear most effective in the treatment of early cases and least effective in the very chronic.

6. High dosages of drugs do not appear to provide any benefit over and above the benefit derived from moderate dosage.

7. The incidence of side-effects is highest with Thorazine and Thorazine combined with reserpine and lowest with Frequel.

8. Combined Thorazine-reserpine therapy does not follow the prediction that the good effects of each drug would be potentiated and the ill effects merely additive. Thorazine-reserpine produces a prohibitively high incidence of serious untoward effects.

9. Patients who do not respond to one drug may respond to another. Patients who respond moderately to one drug may respond maximally to another.

10. No single diagnostic category seems to respond outstandingly to any one drug.

11. Hyperactivity, combativeness and tension respond best to ataraxics. The response of insight, affect, judgment, and realistic planning is disappointing.

12. Our results support the concept that ataractic drugs are of value in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 113 • Number 7 • January 1957

Pages: 589 - 594

PubMed: 13394711

History

Published in print: January 1957

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

PAUL E. FELDMAN

Director of Research and Education, Topeka State Hospital, Topeka, Kans.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VARIOUS ATARACTIC DRUGS

Abstract

Get full access to this article