Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics are prescribed very widely, mainly for psychosis, but also for other indications. This module identifies the most important hazards of antipsychotics and informs on actions that health professionals can take in order to anticipate, minimise and manage the risks.

Who should complete this module

This training module is for medical, nursing and pharmaceutical professions. It is especially suitable for pharmacists, general practitioners and those starting out in psychiatry. Health professionals who are established in practice will also find the module a helpful refresher.

Learning objectives

Used with summaries of product characteristics and authoritative guidelines on the clinical use of antipsychotics, this module will help to maximise the benefits of antipsychotics.

On completion of the module you will be able to:

• recognise any antipsychotic drugs you encounter and how the drugs are classified
• list important risks of antipsychotic drugs in general
• outline factors that contribute to the risks of antipsychotics and how the risks can be reduced
• identify important drug interactions of antipsychotics
• outline the risks of special uses of antipsychotics (eg in the elderly with dementia, use of immediate-acting and prolonged-action parenteral antipsychotics and of clozapine) and how these risks can be minimised

Time required

It will take you about 3.5 hours to complete the module. It doesn’t have to be done in one sitting. You will need about 30 minutes to answer the multiple-choice questions and to check your answers against the question feedback we have provided.

This content was last updated 12 February 2015.