Page "Antipsychotic" Paragraph 2

A number of harmful and undesired ( adverse ) effects have been observed, including lowered life expectancy, extrapyramidal effects on motor control – including akathisia ( an inability to sit still ), trembling, and muscle weakness – weight gain, decrease in brain volume ( although this is being debated, since schizophrenia, which is often treated with antipsychotics, also causes a shrinkage of brain volume ), enlarged breasts ( gynecomastia ) in men and milk discharge in men and women ( galactorrhea due to hyperprolactinaemia ), lowered white blood cell count ( agranulocytosis ), involuntary repetitive body movements ( tardive dyskinesia ), diabetes, sexual dysfunction, a return of psychosis requiring increasing the dosage due to cells producing more neurochemicals to compensate for the drugs ( tardive psychosis ), and a potential for permanent chemical dependence leading to psychosis worse than before treatment began, if the drug dosage is ever lowered or stopped ( tardive dysphrenia ).

Most of these side-effects disappear rapidly once the medication is discontinued or reduced, but others, particularly tardive dyskinesia, may be irreversible.