2.11 - Psychotropic drugs

• Published in: Drugs During Pregnancy and Lactation pp. 288 - 320
• Main Authors: Garbis, Hanneke, McElhatton, Patricia R.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 2007
• Edition: Second Edition
• ISBN: 9780444520722; 0444520724
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-044452072-2/50015-X

Psychiatric illness can adversely affect pregnancy outcome and child development. Untreated psychiatric disorders during pregnancy may cause spontaneous abortions, pre-eclampsia, placental abnormalities, decreased fetal growth, preterm labor, preterm delivery, low birth weight, small for gestational age babies, and perinatal and birth complications. This chapter describes several untreated psychiatric disorders of pregnancy and the drug intervention for their cure. Psychiatric illness should always be treated with psychotherapy or appropriate medication if needed. Many women of reproductive age and even pregnant women are also prescribed long-term antidepressant therapy for minor mood disorders that could be treated with non-medical therapies. The various psychotropic drugs discussed are tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), monoaminoxidase inhibitors, antidepressants, phenothiazines and thioxanthenes, butyrophenones, atypical antipsychotic drugs, neuroleptic drugs, lithium and mood stabilizers, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, zaleplon, zolpidem, and zopiclone, anxiolytic drugs, chloral hydrate, sedative-hypnotic drugs, psychoanaleptic drugs, and Parkinson drugs.