Common Side Effects and Managing Them for Psychiatric Mental Health Patient

Managing Side Effects Across the Lifespan Term Paper
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Individuals diagnosed with mental health issues such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar, and schizoaffective disorders are constantly prescribed antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic drugs, including antidepressants play a crucial role in treatment and subsequent recuperation of individuals with mental health illnesses and conditions. In many dimensions, antipsychotic drugs are conceptualized as a first-line treatment modality for individuals suffering from mental health disorders. Patients and their caregivers emphasize antipsychotic prescription and usage, but persistent questions concern their tolerability and safety when used for extended timescales. This paper evaluates the common side effects of antipsychotic medications, strategies to manage them, and the rationale for including side effects in informed consent forms. In addition, the paper appraises the provided mini-cases to determine the side effects and appropriateness of the started and recommended medications.
Part 1: Adverse Effects of Mental Health Medications
Common Side Effects
A troubling and enduring attribute of these medications is their possibility to prompt severe adverse effects to an extent that can jeopardize the fundamental rationale for their initial prescription (Begum et al., 2020). Antipsychotics are linked to a wide range of possible adverse side effects which can include sedation, extrapyramidal side effects (EPSEs), metabolic disturbance, urinary effects, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal effects, and prolactin elevation manifestations (e.g., galactorrhoea, menstrual irregularities). These side effects potentially undermine an individual's life quality, are linked to stigma and distress, and could result in physical morbidity (including mortality in rare scenarios). Moreover, antipsychotic side effects negatively influence patients' subjective well-being and attitudes, leading to non-compliance to treatment modalities (Hynes et al., 2020). More specifically, there is an alarming antipsychotic non-adherence, with roughly 80 percent of the patients prescribed psychotic medications stopping taking them prematurely (Hynes et al., 2020). Non-adherence to these medications severely impacts patient health outcomes, with an increased probability of relapse leading to extended hospital stays and re-hospitalization. For individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, non-compliance increases the risk of relapse five-fold. At the same time, those who have bipolar disorder recorded a five-fold suicide rate due to failure to take medicines as prescribed (Hynes et al., 2020). This shows that antipsychotic non-adherence is a significant issue that precipitates adverse side effects in individuals with mental health disorders.
The side effects of antipsychotic medicines span from mild to severe levels. Whereas some adverse effects have potentially insignificant short-term risks of clinical symptoms (e.g., increased levels of serum lipids or prolactin), others may entail long-term clinical complications (Stroup & Gray, 2018). For example, patients prescribed antipsychotics are three-fold more likely to meet untimely and sudden death from stroke or cardiac compared to the general populace (Begum et al., 2020). Other possible side effects include weight gain, serotonin syndrome, neuroleptic malignancy, and cardiac arrhythmias. Moreover, a typically-overlooked complication of using antipsychotics is akathisia. There is also the potential for polypharmacy globally as well as over-the-counter use of antipsychotic medications resulting in deteriorated cognitive, physical, and emotional outcomes of the patient (Begum et al., 2020).
Strategies to Manage Antipsychotics Adverse Effects
Physicians and other medical professionals should discontinue antipsychotics undermining patients' health outcomes. The primary strategies to manage the side-effected delineated in the preceding sections include lowering the dose, switching to another antipsychotic with a low profile of adverse effects, using a non-pharmacological intervention, and treating the patient with a concomitant drug. Lowering the dose is essential when the used antipsychotic demonstrates significant benefits, and it is shown that the adverse effect is linked to dosage and not urgent medically. In this context, using a lower but effective dosage can achieve the treatment goal while reducing dose-associated complications such as orthostatic hypotension, sedation, and hyperprolactinemia. In practice, a personalized, empirical process should be used to find the optimal and effective dosage to achieve a balance between minimal adverse impacts and maximal efficacy (Stroup & Gray, 2018). Switching to another effective antipsychotic medication with fewer negative side effects. It is recommended that the physician change the drugs and prescribe the ones with less problematic consequences. This is a common approach with high efficacy thresholds for at least some specific negative effects, such as reducing weight or addressing dyslipidemias. The inherent risk for Parkinsonism, hyperprolactinemia, and akathisia after the prescription of antipsychotic medicines implies that switching medications is a feasible strategy to address these issues (Stroup & Gray, 2018).
Non-pharmacologic interventions can also help mitigate the side effects. Exercise and diet programs are reasonably effective in mitigating lipid abnormalities and weight gain. Another strategy to address the side effects of antipsychotics includes utilizing concomitant medications. This is because these medications have modest beneficial effects, although there is the potential for adverse drug interactions and outcomes. For instance, anticholinergic medicines for treating Parkinsonism are linked to constipation and cognitive impairment. Moreover, few concomitant medication approaches are supported by clinical evidence (Stroup & Gray, 2018).
Importance of Including Side Effects in Informed Consent
Including side-effect or risk information in informed consent forms is crucial to prevent nocebo effects. Explaining or talking about the adverse effects of any medication or medical intervention intensifies or elicits the very same manifestations. Nocebo effects increase the illness burden and could also lead to psychological distress, non-adherence to therapy or medication, extra therapy, and treatment visits related to side effects, most of which increase the costs of accessing health care services. Additionally, hopelessness, depressive reactions, and negative expectations that can emanate from side effect disclosure strongly contribute to undesirable out...