Psychiatric drugs come with a number of different side effects, many of them serious. Among the 30 most commonly prescribed psychiatric medications, 18 (or 60%) carry the FDA’s strongest warning, meaning they pose a significant risk of serious or even deadly side effects. (Dayton, 2016) A lot of doctors and psychiatrists aren’t real forthcoming about these side effects, so it’s important for people to be proactive on their own and know just what they’re getting into.
Common side-effects of psychiatric medication
The specific side effects vary by the type of drug and from person to person, but here are some common side-effects typical of most psychological medications:
- Weight gain
- Agitation or depressed mood
- Sexual dysfunction or loss of libido
- Diarrhea, nausea or vomiting
- Sleep difficulties or disturbances
- Dizziness (approximately 30% of patients who take brain drugs experience intensified dizziness; Scientific American Mind, Jan./Feb. 2015, p. 18)
Other side effects of psychiatric drugs
A number of psychiatric drugs are addictive, such as benzodiazepines (Xanax), typically used for anxiety, or ADHD medications like Ritalin. Some patients experience dangerous skin reactions from psychiatric drugs such as Lamotrigine (an anti-convulsant often prescribed for bipolar disorder), with such reactions being more common among children than adults.
When psychiatric drugs create a disorder
Another thing many people don’t realize is that the use of psychological or behavioral medicine can actually give you or your child a disorder that you didn’t have before. Anytime you tinker with neurochemistry you run the risk of screwing up the mind in other ways. Unfortunately, psychiatric drugs may be better at creating mental illness than they are at curing it.
Antidepressants can trigger manic depressive disorder and occasionally psychosis, a risk that is greater in children than in adults. ADHD medication can lead to the development of anger disorders, anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, and the development of tics or repetitive movement disorders. Antipsychotics can actually induce psychosis or lead to disruptive behaviors. Virtually all mood altering drugs also raise the prospect of future addiction, and this is especially true of ADHD stimulants and antipsychotics.