Development History of Antipsychotic Drugs / 대한정신약물학회지

Discovery of antipsychotic drugs provided us with a turning point which was regarded as a revolutionary event in psychiatry. The pathophysiology of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia had not been unveiled until antipsychotic drugs were discovered. A clue to understanding the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders has been found through the investigation of the mechanism of action of antipsychotic drugs. It is natural outcome to have imperfect understanding of the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders, since their concepts has not been fully defined bioetiologically until now. This is the reason why antipsychotic drugs have limited effects in treating psychotic patients despite the use of them. Advances in molecular biology and neuroscience may unveil the neurobiological mechanisms of psychotic disorders and eventually provide enough information to develop new antipsychotic drugs. The serendipitous discovery of new drugs often creates opportunities for new directions in medical research. The study of the mechanism of action of new drugs may help refine scientific theories and develop newer and better drugs. Overcoming the psychotic disorders as well as cancers is one of the most difficult subjects that needs to be settled. In a sense that the antipsychotic drug was discovered by serendipity, reviewing the developmental history of antipsychotic drugs could be a meaningful way, as it could be a clue to solve the difficulties. History has always provided us with the wisdom to contemplate the future.

A Preliminary Study on the Typology of Substance Abusers / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This preliminary study was performed to typify a group of substance abusers by their demographic data, developmental history, substance use patterns, and personality profiles. METHOD: Forty-two substance abusers were assessed with Minnessota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI), Ehwa-Defense Mechanism Test, Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory(BAI), etc. They also participated in semi-structured interview by psychiatrists and social workers. RESULTS: 1) This group consisted of 14 cannabis users, 26 methamphetamine users, and 2 inhalant users. Twenty-seven(64.35%) of this group abused drugs over one year. Thirty-two(76.5%) of the subjects were in their twenties or thirties. Many of them were less than low in their economic status. Their academic careers and occupations were various. Fifteen abusers had past criminal histories. 2) Among their developmental history, parental alcohol problem, poor relationship with parent, and criminal history were significantly correlated with one another(p<.05). 3) In the cluster analysis upon their MMPI profiles, two clusters emerged; one cluster presented low profiles, and the other showed high profiles. We named the former 'simple drug user group', and the latter 'sociopathic drug abuser group'(p<.05). 4) There differences in MMPI profiles according to the kind of drugs and developmental problems. Methamphetamine group was higher in Mf and Si. The group with poor developmental history was higher in Pd profiles(p<.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that, for typology of substance abusers, more investigation should be made on developemental history and drug use patterns. This study presented two clusters of simple abuse group and sociopathic abuse group.