People with intellectual disabilities at higher risk of developing psychosis and their symptoms can be resistant to treatment. Clozapine is recommended for treatment resistant psychosis. If you have treated anyone with dual diagnosis of intellectual disabilities and psychosis please share your experience.
Dear Muhammed,
J Clin Psychiatry. 2000 Jan;61(1):22-5.
Clozapine treatment in a population of adults with mental retardation.
Antonacci DJ, de Groot CM.
Conclusion: clozapine appears to be safe, efficacious, and well tolerated in individuals with mental retardation and comorbid psychiatric illness.
Postgrad Med J. 2003 Mar;79(929):139-46.
Psychopharmacological treatments in persons with dual diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and developmental disabilities.
Antochi R, Stavrakaki C, Emery PC.
Conclusion: newer anticonvulsants, and atypical neuroleptics are preferred when treating psychiatric disorders among people with developmental disabilities. This paper will review the major studies of pharmacological treatment of mental illness in individuals with developmental disabilities.
I have treated persons with psychosis and developmental disability with some modest success.
There are anecdotes re:clozapine/cognition, but no good studies. The only treatment that has been demonstrated effective in the treatment of the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia is COGNITIVE REMEDIATION, but there is some evidence that lurasidone may be "precognitive" and the search for pharmacological treatments for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia is ongoing.
Article Pharmacotherapy of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia
Thank you Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist and Lewis Alan Opler.
Muhammad
Hi, Just my experience as a student nurse in the acute psychiatric ward with Clozapine in general, in that it was quite an efficient but 'heavy' drug to use with people whereby other treatments had failed. However, if it indeed failed also it was quite a challenging drug to withdraw from and of course at the time blood tests regular is a negative for some as is coming into the Mental Health ward to have this carried out, due to reminding patients they have a mental health illness.
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