cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9433613
Oliver McGowan was 18 years old when he was hospitalized in England with recurrent seizures and pneumonia. He was autistic, and he and his parents had one specific request for the medical team: no antipsychotic medications. When he had taken them in the past, they made his seizures worse and had devastating effects on his mood. Despite the family’s vehement protests, doctors gave him an antipsychotic. A few days later, Oliver suffered a lethal neurological side effect. A week later, he was taken off life support. An inquest into his death found that the drug had led to the rapid deterioration.
After his death in 2016, his mother, Paula, launched a campaign to mandate training on intellectual disability and autism for health care workers. In 2022, the U.K. National Health Service listened. Now, all health care workers in the NHS must complete both an online module and a live interactive session covering communication and accommodations needed for this population. The U.S. needs to follow suit, starting with medical schools.
4th year medical student and pharmacist here. Antipsychotics are commonly used in individuals with autism, as well as for individuals who are admitted to the hospital who do not suffer from psychosis.
The primary reason antipsychotics are used in the hospital is for something historically referred to as “excited delirium” or “agitated delirium”, in which individuals who are otherwise of sound mind become progressively confused and sometimes physically aggressive towards hospital staff due to the metabolic demands of their disease and sleep deprivation. Antipsychotics are used as a method of calming these individuals both for their own safety and for the safety of hospital staff.
Antipsychotics are used similarly in autism, predominantly among individuals who have defiant personality characteristics associated with their autism that result in significant difficulty for caregivers (generally family members) who are attempting to provide care to these individuals.
Lastly, antipsychotics, particularly the newer “atypical” antipsychotics, can be used as adjunctive medications in the treatment of anxiety and depression.
This all stems from a rather unfortunate situation doctors get themselves into regularly, of naming a drug for its original use, then finding out it does other stuff. For instance some antidepressants can be used to treat chronic pain and some blood pressure/prostate medicines can be used for PTSD.
Unfortunately in this case, it’s difficult for us to know exactly why the decision was made to give the patient antipsychotics anyway. Without the perspective of the physicians we’ll never get to the bottom of the story here on the internet.