Page "Antipsychotic" Paragraph 7

Until the 1970s there was considerable debate within psychiatry on the most appropriate term to use to describe the new drugs.

In the late 1950s the most widely used term was " neuroleptic ", followed by " major tranquilizer " and then " ataraxic ".

The first recorded use of the term tranquilizer dates from the early nineteenth century.

In 1953 Frederik F. Yonkman, a chemist at the Swiss based Ciba pharmaceutical company, first used the term tranquilizer to differentiate reserpine from the older sedatives.

The word neuroleptic was derived from the ( neuron, originally meaning " sinew " but today referring to the nerves ) and " λαμβάνω " ( lambanō, meaning " take hold of ").

Thus, the word means taking hold of one's nerves.

This may refer to common side effects such as reduced activity in general, as well as lethargy and impaired motor control.

Although these effects are unpleasant and in some cases harmful, they were at one time, along with akathisia, considered a reliable sign that the drug was working.

The term " ataraxy " was coined by the neurologist Howard Fabing and the classicist Alister Cameron to describe the observed effect of psychic indifference and detachment in patients treated with chlorpromazine.

This term derived from the Greek adjective ( ataraktos ) which means " not disturbed, not excited, without confusion, steady, calm ".

In the use of the terms " tranquilizer " and " ataractic ", medical practitioners distinguished between the " major tranquilizers " or " major ataractics ", which referred to drugs used to treat psychoses, and the " minor tranquilizers " or " minor ataractics ", which referred to drugs used to treat neuroses.

While popular during the 1950s, these terms are infrequently used today.

They are being abandoned in favor of " antipsychotic ", which refers to the drug's desired effects.

Today, " minor tranquilizer " can refer to anxiolytic and / or hypnotic drugs such as the benzodiazepines and nonbenzodiazepines which have some antipsychotic properties and are recommended for concurrent use with antipsychotics, and are useful for insomnia or drug-induced psychosis.

They are powerful ( and potentially addictive ) sedatives.